Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
The transfer portal never stops grinding. Coming off a Rose Bowl season, Utah improved their 2022 roster greatly with the addition of Florida transfer linebacker Mohamoud Diabate on Tuesday night.
Recruiting: Diabate committed to Florida during the summer leading up to his senior season. In-state programs Alabama and Auburn were also in contention, as well as LSU and Texas A&M.
At Florida: Diabate totaled 170 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception during his time with Florida. He finished second on the team in 2021 with 89 tackles.
Farrell’s Take: Diabate won't wow you with any one major skill but he can do so many things and is very steady so he’s a veteran pickup for Utah. He's a solid tackler who has had some good games against top competition but he's also made some key mistakes and missed some big plays. But overall, his impact at the Power Five level should be immediate for the Utes and make them stronger.
Impact Meter: 7.8 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.
