CFB DeptHITS: Tuesday, December 10
It's a portal opening special. While we try to keep up with the barrage of announcements; we'll send you off with a few of the biggest names to hit the portal; and sprinkle in some coaching news...
As mentioned, the best place to keep up with all of the movement, entries, signings and impacts, is via our “Portal Tracker” over at CFBDepth.com »
We have admittedly fell behind on all of these and have 940+ players currently in the tool. You can search, filter and see the highest rated players in the portal currently. We’ll be adding more insights around team talent churn when players start signing at a higher rate (likely next week). In the mean time, here is a smattering of portal entry names to know and a little more about them…
Utah ::: QB Isaac Wilson was the heir-apparent to Cam Rising at Utah, but he has now entered the Portal. Maybe he has some news that others don't (yet) about Cam Rising's potential return to Utah for one. more. year. Either way, Wilson is going elsewhere and this quarterback room is barren.
North Texas ::: WR DT Sheffield is leaving North Texas and it's not the first time he's hitting the portal. Sheffield came in from Washington State and will fill the slot role elsewhere in 2025. With North Texas in 2024, he reeled in 66 passes (on 94 targets) for 816 yards and 11 touchdowns. He'll be a big-time target for many schools this portal season.
Miami (OH) ::: WR Javon Tracy hits the portal after spending this season as a top option in the RedHawks attack. He caught 50 passes for 760 yards and seven touchdowns. While Cade McDonald and Reggie Virgil were also solid options in the attack; Tracy rates out the highest of the bunch and will seek out a new home.
Oklahoma State ::: WR De'Zhaun Stribling is on the move again and will be a top wide receiver target for schools in the portal. He came in from Washington State and was the No. 2 option in the Cowboys attack, nabbing 52-of-93 targets for 882 yards and six touchdowns.
Mississippi State ::: WR Mario Craver was a top recruit for Jeff Lebby in his first class at Mississippi State and while he battled injuries his true freshman season, he put up a solid campaign. He will enter the portal and look for a new home in 2025 and beyond. He did play in nine games so he will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Georgia Tech ::: WR Eric Singleton Jr. is heading to the portal. He comes in ranked 5th (at time of entry) amongst all available portal wide receivers. He was Georgia Tech's leading receiver with 91 targets, 51 catches for 754 yards and three touchdowns in 2024.
Sam Houston State ::: WR Simeon Evans was the Bearkats leading receiver in 2025, putting up 44 catches for 478 yards and five scores. He adjusted to a couple of different starting quarterbacks and rates out as a well above average receiver. He started his career at Army and will now spend his final season elsewhere.
Western Kentucky ::: WR Easton Messer joins the portal fray and may just find himself in demand this off-season. Messer operates primarily out of the slot and while he was second in receiving, he rates out as the best overall wide out on the Hilltoppers. He ended up with 45 catches for 642 yards and four touchdowns. He will head elsewhere in 2025.
USC ::: RB Quinten Joyner's jump to the portal is a bit of a surprising one. He did play second-fiddle to Woody Marks this season, but Marks is out of eligibility and that should open up the starting role in LA. There are a lot of other factors that go into these decisions, so we shouldn't speculate too much. Either way, he rates out as a very good runner and somebody will be getting a good player wherever he lands.
Connecticut ::: RB Durell Robinson was a part of a committee approach at UConn (with Cam Edwards and Mel Brown) and grades out as the best of the three as a pure runner. He is on the move as he enters the portal and should find a featured role somewhere in 2025. A name to keep an eye on.
Kentucky ::: DeaMonte "Chip" Trayanum moved to Kentucky after starting his career at Ohio State. He battled injuries in Lexington and never quite got going. When he did return, he found himself behind both Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and Jamarion Wilcox. Both of those players have eligibility remaining and Trayanum is going somewhere he can get to the top of the rotation.
Texas State ::: RB Ismail Mahdi has had two big years at Texas State. The Houston Christian transfer is looking to level up one more time with one year of eligibility remaining. 2024 was a step back from a huge 2023 (1,300+ rushing yards; 10 TD) but he rated out the same and is going to be an impact player elsewhere in 2025.
South Alabama ::: RB Fluff Bothwell is another of the true frehsman who made a quick name for himself at South Alabama. He ultimately took a secondary role to Ole Miss transfer Kentrell Bullock, but still managed over 800 yards and 13 (!) touchdowns on the season. His player rating is near the top of all players (16.8) in the portal and he will certainly be in-demand to join a backfield at a big school in 2025.
Miami (FL) ::: RB Ajay Allen in on the move again. He started his career at Nebraska and moved to Miami (FL) where he was dealing with injuries and was buried in a stacked running back room. If he can find a place to be featured; he should really show out. A name to watch for a smaller school.
Virginia Tech ::: The Hokies offensive line is taking a hit. Starting center Braelin Moore is leaving the Hokies. He is a solid player who will be missed in the middle of the offensive line. It remains to be seen if his brother, Kaden, who started at right guard is joining him in the move.
Meanwhile, LT Xavier Chaplin was sharing time towards the end of the season for the Hokies and he may have been unhappy with that role. He entered the portal. He rates out high (14.7) and is the 3rd-highest rated offensive lineman in the portal at this point.
Michigan ::: OL Andrew Gentry is headed to the portal. The former 4-star recruit had an injury-plagued season and finds himself stuck behind Evan Link at right tackle. He'll search for a new place to play (and start) in 2025.
Washington State ::: DL Khalil Laufau is hitting the portal. He's a difference maker and one to be tracked. He comes in at #9 on the ever growing defensive line portal tracker and No. 62 overall at this point. He wound up with four sacks and 12 stops, playing just over 30 snaps per game for the Cougars. A name to keep an eye on.
|||||| COACHING NEWS OF THE DAY
Former Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin is going back to work. He’ll become Justin Wilcox’ offensive coordinator at California. The two worked together at Boise State under Chris Peterson.
Del Alexander, the current receivers coach at UNLV, will serve as interim for the UNLV bowl game and as the administration searches for the new Rebels head coach after Barry Odom left for Purdue.
NC State head coach Dave Doeren announced that Nickelbacks coach Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay will take over play-calling duties on an interim basis (for the bowl game) after the departure of Tony Gibson, taking over at Marshall as head coach.
Ohio has named offensive coordinator Brian Smith the interim coach for the immediate future after Tim Albin’s departure for Charlotte.
Texas Tech lost both coordinators already and head coach Joey McGuire has already hired a defensive coordinator (Shiel Wood); however, we’ll get to see LB coach C.J. Ah You call plays in the bowl game and Justin “Juice” Johnson will do so for the offense.
Offensive line coach Herb Hand is heading to Tallahassee from Orlando as he takes the role for Mike Norvell’s staff after three seasons at UCF.
San Diego State defensive coordinator Eric Schmidt spent just one season on Sean Lewis’ staff as he takes the head coaching job at his alma mater FCS North Dakota.
That’s our “primary” show for today. If you are a sicko and want to see some more “names of note” entering the portal, please read on. If you have not subscribed; please do and if you could share what we are doing here; we’d also appreciate that very much.
|||||| SICKO SECTION
We’ll throw some more names at you. The number in the parentheses is the player rating (out of 20) and the “YER” stands for “years of eligibility remaining” — again, keep up with it all at the website…
Louisiana Tech QB Jack Turner (11.9) - 1 YER
Tulane QB Kai Horton (10.3) - 1 YER
Northern Illinois QB Kenny Lueth (6.7) - 2 YER
Middle Tennessee QB Luther Richesson (9.4) - 2 YER
Washington State QB Brady McKelheer (6.0) - 3 YER
ULM QB General Booty (9.0) - 1 YER
North Texas QB Chandler Morris (15.5) - 1 YER
Iowa State QB JJ Kohl (12.1) - 3 YER
Western Michigan QB JD Davis II (8.8) - 4 YER
Coastal Carolina QB DJ Moore (9.1) - 4 YER
Iowa QB Marco Lainez (9.6) - 3 YER
Texas Tech QB Cameron Brown (9.1) - 2 YER
UAB QB Landry Lyddy (9.9) - 2 YER
Texas State QB RJ Martinez (11.9) - 1 YER
Massachusetts QB Ahmad Haston (11.4) - 3 YER
Michigan QB Jayden Denegal (11.7) - 2 YER
Kentucky QB Gavin Wimsatt (13) - 1 YER
Florida QB Parker Leise (7.6) - 3 YER
San Diego State QB AJ Duffy (11.5) - 2 YER
Texas State QB PJ Hatter (8.5) - 3 YER
Arkansas State QB Timmy McClain (11.9) - 1 YER
Iowa QB James Resar (9.7) - 4 YER
Old Dominion QB Emmett Morehead (10.5) - 1 YER
Eastern Michigan QB Drew Viotto (9.0) - 3 YER
ECU QB Bryson Harrison (7.8) - 3 YER
Hawaii RB Tylan Hines (14.4) - 1 YER
Boise State RB Kaden Dudley (9.0) - 1 YER
North Texas RB Juwaun Price (10.1) - 1 YER
Louisiana Tech RB Donerio Davenport (12.2) - 1 YER
Kent State RB Ky Thomas (13.8) - 1 YER
UTEP RB Ezell Jolly (12.5) - 3 YER
UTSA RB Kevorian Barnes (13.1) - 1 YER
Virginia Tech RB Malachi Thomas (13.8) - 1 YER
ULM Taven Curry (11.1) - 2 YER
Arkansas RB Emmanuel Crawford (4.5) - 3 YER
New Mexico State RB Mike Washington (12.9) - 1 YER
San Diego State RB Kenon Christon (12.8) - 1 YER
Pittsburgh RB Montravius Lloyd (9.4) - 3 YER
Tulane RB Trey Cornist (11.5) - 3 YER
Washington RB Cameron Davis (13.7) - 1 YER
Southern Miss RB Kenyon Clay (14.2) - 1 YER
Coastal Carolina RB Simeon Price (11.3) - 1 YER
Washington RB Sam Adams II (11.7) - 1 YER
Tennessee WR Chas Nimrod (11.3) - 2 YER
Hawaii WR Koala Nishigaya (10.5) - 1 YER
Georgia State WR Peter Kikwata (9.5) - 2 YER
Georgia Southern WR DeAndre Buchannon (10.3) - 2 YER
San Diego State WR Phillippe Wesley (10.5) - 1 YER
Texas State WR Langston Anderson (11.3) - 1 YER
Florida State WR Darion Williamson (11.1) - 1 YER
ULM WR Artis Cole (11.4) - 1 YER
Arkansas State WR Reginald Harden Jr. (9.6) - 1 YER
Old Dominion WR Kelby Williams (10.9) - 1 YER
Mizzou WR Mekhi Miller (9.4) - 1 YER
Wyoming WR Tyler King (11.3) - 2 YER
Michigan State WR Antonio Gates Jr. (12.5) - 2 YER
UTEP WR Javoni Gardere (8.5) - 2 YER
Boston College WR Montrell Wade (9.6) - 3 YER
Akron WR Phaeton Wilson (10.2) - 2 YER
Akron WR Jarvis Rush (10.1) - 1 YER
Virginia WR Titus Ivy (8.8) - 3 YER
Boston College WR Jerald Bradley (12.5) - 1 YER
Colorado WR Jordan Onovughe (9.8) - 3 YER
Maryland WR Ezekiel Avit (10.5) - 3 YER
Arizona WR Jackson Holman (9.1) - 3 YER
Arizona WR Reymello Murphy (12.4) - 1 YER
UTEP TE Zachary Essih (5.3) - 3 YER
New Mexico TE Trace Bruckler (7.6) - 1 YER
Colorado OL Yakiri Walker (12.2) - 1 YER
Arkansas OL Joshua Braun (13.8) - 1 YER
Virginia OL Ty Furnish (11.3) - 1 YER
Michigan State OL Dallas Fincher (9.8) - 1 YER
Northwestern OL Jordan Knox (11.2) - 3 YER
Coastal Carolina OL Marlon Corey II (6.7) - 3 YER
Coastal Carolina OL Jacob Katauskas (8.3) - 4 YER
Coastal Carolina OL Logan Brasfield (7.48) - 4 YER
UAB OL Antavious Woody (9.9) - 2 YER
Coastal Carolina OL Jake Buerk (4.2) - 4 YER
Charlotte OL PJ Wilkins (10.7) - 3 YER
Texas A&M OL Kam Dewberry (12.0) - 1 YER
Air Force OL Tyler Lawrence (11.4) - 1 YER
Oklahoma State OL Isaiah Glass (12.3) - 1 YER
USF OL Nikola Milovac (10.6) - 3 YER
Arizona State DL J’Mond Tapp (13.7) - 2 YER
Nebraska DL Keona Davis (11.8) - 3 YER
Western Michigan DL Anterio Thompson (11.5) - 3 YER
Penn State DL T.A. Cunningham (10.2) - 4 YER
Louisiana Tech DL David Blay (13.9) - 1 YER
Tulane DL Angelo Anderson (11.3) - 1 YER
Marshall DL Isaiah Gibson Jr. (11.9) - 1 YER
Baylor DL Kaian Roberts-Day (10.4) - 2 YER
Middle Tennessee DL James Stewart (13.6) - 1 YER
Texas DL Aaron Bryant (9.3) - 2 YER
Iowa DL Caden Crawford (11.5) - 2 YER
Nebraska DL Kai Wallin (10.7) - 3 YER
Texas A&M DL Samu Taumanupepe (12.6) - 3 YER
WKU DL Jalil Rivera-Harvey (12.6) - 2 YER
Kent State DL Kameron Olds (13.9) - 2 YER
More sure to come today! Thanks for following along…
