Rivals rankings director and national transfer portal analyst Adam Friedman is joined by national recruiting analyst Greg Smith, Jason Suchomel of Orangebloods.com, and Nikki Edwards of CUSportsReport.com to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. The next national champion is in the top 25 of the 2024 transfer team rankings.
Friedman: FICTION. Ole Miss, Alabama, Oregon, Miami and Oklahoma are all in the top 25 of the 2024 transfer team rankings and each of them expects to make the College Football Playoff. Some of these teams even expect to make a deep run in the playoff.
That being said, there are too many other national championship contenders outside the top 25 of the 2024 transfer team rankings – Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Tennessee, LSU and Penn State all have national championship aspirations. If I’m a betting man, I’ll take these teams over the ones inside the top 25 of the 2024 transfer team rankings.
This is an interesting one that is made more complicated by the expanded playoff.
Smith: FICTION. Miami, Oregon, Alabama, Florida State and Ole Miss are all inside the top 25 of the 2024 transfer portal rankings. It really comes down to if you believe one of the teams from that group will win the national championship. While a few of those teams are certainly playoff contenders, I wouldn’t make any of them the favorites.
Texas, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia and LSU are not in the top 25 of the transfer portal rankings. I’d feel more comfortable saying the champion comes from that group versus the first. Even though Oregon could end up making me look foolish here I’ll take the field over the teams in the top 25.
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2. Even after bringing in late transfer RB Velton Gardner, Texas still needs to find another running back.
Friedman: Fiction. If we were earlier in the offseason my answer would be different, but for now it seems like Texas is set with who they have in their running back room. When you think about a running back unit that will be led by Jaydon Blue and Tre Wisner, it makes the experience Gardner, who has a PFF rushing grade of 73.5, brings all that much more valuable. Don’t be surprised when freshman Jerrick Gibson hits the field either. Texas wanted to bring him along slowly but those plans are out the window now that top two running back options CJ Baxter and Christian Clark are out for the season.
Suchomel: Fiction. Texas did lose two running backs for the season due to injury, but the addition of Velton Gardner should give the Longhorns enough punch at the running back position to get by. Starter Jaydon Blue is a budding superstar who many feel could challenge for all-conference honors. Tre Wisner gained valuable experience last year and has flashed in the spring and in fall camp. Jerrick Gibson is a true freshman who is going to be thrown to the wolves, but he's extremely talented and played at IMG Academy, so he's not exactly a stranger to playing on the big stage. His development will be accelerated but so far, he's shown he's up to the task. Gardner will be able to help in some spots and obviously brings a lot of experience. Texas also has a walk-on running back by the name of Colin Page who was one of the standouts in one of the program's fall camp scrimmages. Losing two key contributors from the running back room is obviously a big blow, but the Longhorns should have enough capable bodies to fill the void.
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3. Kardell Thomas will make an impact on Colorado’s offensive line this season.
Friedman: FICTION. This is a difficult one for me because I liked Thomas so much as a high school prospect but his college career has not gone as predicted. Colorado’s offensive line is being completely remade for this season after being, according to PFF, one of the worst in college football last year. New offensive line coach Phil Loadholt and head coach Deion Sanders went to work in the transfer portal and even got five-star Jordan Seaton to sign with them. As Thomas learns the system and gets acclimated to the Colorado program, I would expect him to see time on the field, but how much of an impact will he make? It’s hard for one player to have a significant impact on an offensive line that is starting from scratch so, while Thomas will see the field, it’s hard to imagine him having a major impact on the unit.
Edwards: FACT. As of Tuesday, then just nine days away from Colorado’s first game against North Dakota State, offensive line coach Phil Loadholt felt confident in his starting rotation.
“I feel really good about the rotation that I got set right now in my mind, but we've been working on it,” said on Tuesday.
Colorado held its first open practice to the media and public where we finally got a closer look at the potential starting rotation that Loadholt mentioned, which included (from left tackle to right tackle) Jordan Seaton, Justin Mayers, Hank Zilinskas, Kareem Harden and Tyler Brown. During that showing on Aug. 16, and throughout fall camp, Loadholt has been mixing and matching different players.
Kardell Thomas arrived at CU just last week. He’s still familiarizing himself with the Buffs’ offense and expectations, which left him to just warm-ups and no action during the open practice on Aug. 16. However, his lack of action in front of the fans in his first week at Colorado doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t be protecting Shedeur Sanders this fall.
As the offensive line stands today, Thomas isn’t in that starting conversation, but he has the opportunity to snag a starting role with Loadholt continuing to mix and match personnel.
