Transfer Tracker: Missouri DL quickly adding offers
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
The transfer portal never stops grinding. After officially entering the portal on Friday, Missouri defensive lineman Mekhi Wingo immediately began to pick up offers. One school is already standing out, while plenty of others will try to win the race.
Recruiting: Wingo was the first Class of 2021 commitment at Missouri for new coach Eli Drinkwitz, which came in January, 2020. He grabbed his offer during a junior day and committed the following day. He had upwards of 15 offers at the time of his decision, including from Arkansas, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Purdue, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Louisville.
At Missouri: Wingo played in all 13 games in 2021 as a true freshman, with four starts. He finished with 27 tackles and one sack, and returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown. He was named to the SEC all-freshman team following the season.
Potential landing spots: Upon his entry into the portal, LSU immediately jumped to the top of the list due to their hiring of his high school coach, Robert Steeples, last week. That only magnified when the Tigers quickly offered Wingo. Aside from LSU, other offers have already come in from North Carolina, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Western Kentucky, Miami-Ohio and USC. Other schools who may soon join the race officially with an offer include Miami, Utah, Virginia Tech, Florida, Minnesota and South Carolina.
Farrell’s Take: Wingo hit the ground running in college playing a big role this season as a true freshman and his power and quickness are advanced for a player his age. He also plays with a natural leverage and his pursuit is excellent. This is a big loss for MIzzou and LSU is clearly the early leader with his high school coach on board now. But he has some big-time offers already and more to come.
Impact Meter: 8.6 out of 10
IMPACT METER
The Transfer Portal continues to change the way college football programs recruit and manage their rosters so we here at Rivals.com continue to evolve our coverage. Each time a player of note enters the portal, we will examine their potential impact on the college football landscape and assign an impact rating, both when they enter the portal and when they choose a destination. The scale is from 1-10 and the description below explains the scoring scale.
1.1-4.0 — Not a big impact expected, likely a non-starter and down the bench depth player.
4.1- 6.0 — A solid impact can be expected in the right scenario and has the potential to battle for a starting job.
6.1-9.0. — A high impact player who won’t change a program but will certainly be a very good contributor and starter.
9.1- 9.9 — A very high impact player who should start the moment he steps on the field and will change the outlook of a program immediately.
10 — A franchise transfer who has a chance to be an All American and one of the elite players in college football.