Rivals rankings director and national transfer portal analyst Adam Friedman is joined by national recruiting director Adam Gorney, Sean Williams of PowerMizzou.com, and Mason Choate of HawgBeat.com to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. Travis Hunter is the best player to transfer in the last 10 years.
Friedman: FICTION. You may not find a bigger fan of Travis Hunter than me and I’m confident he’ll go on to have an outstanding career in the NFL. The Colorado star reminded the world who he is on Thursday night. He’s the No. 1 prospect we thought he was in the 2022 Rivals250 and he’s the No. 1 transfer prospect we thought he was in the 2023 transfer rankings.
That being said, calling him the best transfer in the last 10 years is a bit too much right now. Multiple players who have transferred have won the Heisman and a national championship, and gone on to be high draft picks. It would be shocking if Colorado was part of the National Championship conversation but Hunter does have a shot at the Heisman this season and will surely be a high draft pick.
Gorney: FICTION. I love Travis Hunter. He was awesome as a high school prospect and he has been great in college including Thursday night when he had an incredible start to his season with three touchdown catches. We've seen that level of domination, athleticism and off-the-charts playmaking ability for years. It's why we made Hunter the No. 1 player in the 2022 class even though he signed with Jackson State.
Hunter is great but I'm going to pick Joe Burrow here since he went from Ohio State (where he wasn't playing) to LSU (where he won the Heisman, won a national championship and headed one of the best offenses in recent memory). In the 2020 national title win over Clemson, Burrow had 463 passing yards and six total touchdowns. That's pretty amazing.
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2. Toriano Pride will outplay his transfer portal ranking.
Friedman: FICTION. Missouri fans should be really excited about Pride and his potential in the Mizzou secondary. His big pick-six on Thursday night got everybody’s attention and so did the shutout Missouri’s defense posted. Pride should experience plenty of success this season but it’s a bit early to say he’ll outplay his No. 53 overall ranking in the transfer rankings. Murray State wasn’t exactly a tough matchup for Missouri and Pride. It was good to see him perform to the level he is capable of but there are tougher tests ahead.
Williams: FICTION. Toriano Pride introduced himself to the Missouri fans during Thursday's opener against Murray State with a 25-yard pick-six in the first quarter of the Tigers' 51-0 win. Impressive, sure. But, let's consider the competition for one. Also, Missouri defensive end Zion Young, a fellow transfer via Michigan State, created pressure off the edge which forced a poor throw by Murray State's quarterback on Pride's highlight reel play.
But the highly touted cornerback did what anyone else would do in that situation, pounce on the opportunity and put points on the board in a season-opening squash match. Pride checked in at No. 53 on Rivals Transfer Rankings heading into the season and so far, so good. However, his play against Power Four opponents will determine if he's worthy of his ranking. Right now, it's way too early to tell.
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3. Taylen Green’s performance on Thursday should give Arkansas fans confidence heading into the Oklahoma State game.
Friedman: FICTION. Green could be at the start of a special season and his performance on Thursday night was impressive but I’m not sure how much more confident Arkansas fans should be as the Oklahoma State game approaches. There were plenty of things Green did well and some that he didn’t. He only played half the game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and the Oklahoma State defense will be a completely different animal. I’m excited to see what Green can do against a legitimate Power Four opponent but I’m not ready to say Arkansas fans should be confident going into the Oklahoma State game.
Choate: FACT. While Arkansas will likely only go as far as Taylen Green takes it, I think the entire team’s performance in the 70-0 shutout win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday should give fans confidence going into the Oklahoma State game next weekend. The Razorbacks scored a touchdown on each of their 10 offensive possessions, which has never been done before in school history. Green scored four of those touchdowns in the first half, which is all he played in the game.
Green’s first pass was a deep shot to 6-foot-7-inch receiver Tyrone Broden that didn’t have enough juice on it, plus the wind knocked it down a bit. While he had a few more miscues through the first two quarters, Green settled in nicely and finished 16-of-23 passing with 229 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 88 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. We knew from watching Green in spring and fall practices that he was going to be able to run the offense well. He flexed the deep ball once or twice, but most of his action came on crossing routes in which he was usually on the money.
The big question surrounding Green was how he’d be able to move in and out of the pocket in a live game, and he did just fine. His long strides make it look like he’s running slower than he is, but he can hit 22 miles per hour, and he out-ran all the UAPB defenders on an impressive 36-yard scramble for a score just before halftime.
Arkansas dominated in every aspect of the game against UAPB, which never stood a chance, respectively, so take everything with a grain of salt.
