catdaddyp

Take it with a grain of salt since he played at the FCS level, but PFF actually graded Thompson higher than any of our D-linemen last year not named Nunnally.

DE Jamall Thompson from Stamford visited.

The amount of spring coverage we’ve gotten from the program has been disappointing. To be fair, spring coverage across college football has taken a hit in general. As of this writing, only two SEC schools are even televising their spring games. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a vote next year to allow schools to play other programs during the spring. Colorado and Syracuse gave it a shot, but the NCAA shut it down, saying it wouldn’t be fair since other schools had already wrapped up spring ball and didn’t have the same opportunity. In any case, here’s my take on the current roster and what I’ll be keeping an eye on during our spring event. QB: Finley is one of the few returning starting quarterbacks in the MAC, and with a full year in the system under his belt, he should be in the mix for an all-conference season—assuming he stays healthy. With Bullock hitting the portal, the QB-run threat takes a hit, so that element of the offense will have a different feel in 2025. Roggow didn’t look like an overwhelmed freshman during spring ball in 2024, and there's a good chance he’s ready to lock down the backup role as a redshirt freshman. Then there’s true freshman Cibastian Broughton. He’s a bit undersized for the position, but he’s physically gifted and could force his way into the conversation if he puts it together quickly. RB: Top rushers Simmons and Kellom have moved on after the 2024 season, opening the door for new faces to step up and take meaningful snaps. Jordan Gant, a transfer from Tennessee State, looks like the best bet to grab the starting job, while Chris Gee out of Colgate might end up being a sneaky good pickup. Don’t sleep on redshirt freshman Sean Patrick, either. He was electric in high school and may be ready to make an impact this season. WR: Golden and Norton decided to go portaling, which leaves a production void—but honestly, I don’t think we’re looking at much of a drop-off. Adams returns, and if he can stay healthy, we’re getting back a former 1st team All-MAC player. Polk showed real growth late in the season, and that development should keep trending in the right direction. Walker, Louis, and P. Davis should be ready to step in and contribute. Redshirt freshman Kyan Mason was an absolute nightmare to cover in high school. He flashed that ability with a tough touchdown grab last year, and if he’s added some mass, he should start seeing regular snaps. And I’m pretty high on the upside of Brandon Hills, the Washington State transfer. He’s got the physical tools to become a big-time player in this offense. TE: Newell and Cravaack form what is likely the best tight end duo in the MAC. I’m curious to see what strides redshirt freshman Khalil Witherspoon has made. OL: What the starters at this position will look like is anyone’s guess. Coach JRod has done a fantastic job recruiting the high school ranks since he got here—but keeping those kids around has been a challenge. We lost starters James and Williams to the portal, and Blanchard is out of eligibility, but we might actually be in a spot where we can replace them without too much of a drop. The new additions don’t lack size or athleticism, that’s for sure. Morris and K. Davis will be locked in as starters somewhere on the interior, and we’ll have to see how the tackle spots shake out. If he’s healthy, Mann could be ready to make a push at right tackle. DE: 1st Team All-MAC Nunnally took advantage of his extra year and hit the portal to Purdue, and his running mate Adler is out of eligibility—so we’re looking at some new faces at this spot. Arizona transfer Cyrus Durham will battle it out with redshirt sophomores Cheatom and Dall for the starting jobs. Right behind them are the Frazier brothers, both redshirt freshmen. None of these guys are short on length or athleticism. DT: This position probably concerns me the most on the defensive side right now. Moore surprisingly moved on to Bowling Green, and Kapongo is out of eligibility, so we’re thin. This would be the perfect time for Murphy to finally tap into his potential and lock down a starting role. Redshirt freshmen Ronald Hull and Elijah Davis definitely have the talent, but the question is whether they’re ready to handle the workload. Madden flashed at times last season, but even as an upperclassman, he’s still pretty green. We’ve added two JUCO signees, but I don’t know when they’ll actually get on campus. We probably need a few more DTs before we can start feeling good about depth. LB: Starters McCoy and Fish have moved on—Oklahoma State and Sam Houston snagged them—but there’s some good news: Cooper looks to have been granted an extra year, and Summers is listed on the spring roster. I’m actually really high on this group. All the young guys have a ton of upside—it’s just a matter of when the light comes on for each of them. If it clicks, this unit could surprise. NB: D. Lewis and Greenwood will once again handle the snaps at Nickel, barring injury. They have plenty of experience and provide stability to the secondary. CB: Golden-Nelson transferred out, but outside of his departure, we didn’t really lose much at this spot. Reed, DeWalt, and White are the top returners and should collect the meaningful snaps. Upper Iowa transfer Ben Kamara is definitely one to watch. He has all the physical tools to be a really good player—it’s just a matter of how quickly he adjusts to this level. S: P. Lewis is off to try his hand at the pro level after a one-and-done, all-conference season. David and Anderson should be the starters heading into the year. Quality depth was a real issue last season—once David went down or anyone else missed time, it really showed. We’ve added two transfers to help shore things up: Jamarii Somerville from James Madison and Mehki Flowers from Penn State. I’m not sure if Flowers is on campus yet, but if he’s able to pull it all together as a former 4 star, he could be a game-changer. ST: We fielded one of the best special teams units in the conference in 2024, but now we’re looking at a full reset—our starting kicker, punter, kickoff specialist, and long snapper have all moved on. Wiley and Castle will both have shots to earn starting roles. They have been in the program for several years now and should be noticeably improved from their freshmen campaigns. I’d imagine we’ll see a few more specialists brought in after the spring for competition purposes. Ending Thoughts: I’m sure we’ll lose a handful of players after the spring when the next portal window opens. By my count, we still have nine scholarships to fill, not counting the three usually allocated to special teams. There are still plenty of players out there who could help us, whether from JUCO or the portal, so we’ll see how everything shakes out over the next few months.

Bump for update. We’ve moved up to 7th in conference rankings. If Rivals would include UMASS, we’d be sitting at 8th. Toledo and Miami’s classes are clearly a step above the rest. Bowling Green is probably locked in at the third spot, but after that, it’s really just a toss-up. I don’t think this class is as strong as our last two, but that might not matter much if we hit at a high rate on positions of need.

This is one I thought was coming. He dominated at JUCO this past season. 42 total tackles and 5 sacks. Really agile for a guy his size and has been well coached. Not sure why he didn’t have more offers.

Spring dates posted after the first day of practice.

Rivals listed him as a JUCO 3rd team All-American.

My only issue with this year’s schedule is our 2nd bye is on the final week of conference play. Outside of that, great schedule. Miami and Toledo probably have the most overall talent…again. 4 of our MAC opponents will have new head coaches. I doubt that many of them will be situations like Lembo’s first year with Buffalo. We still have some areas that need addressing on the roster, but this program is far ahead from when Moorhead took over. 6 wins minimum has to be the expectation this season. And who knows when we’ll have a schedule this manageable again.

With our need at DT, I hope he’d be welcomed back. I don’t know in what manner he left though. He seemed like a good kid from his high school recruiting days, so I wouldn’t think he would have burned bridges on his way out. I also dont know what he’s looking for at this point in his career. If he did return, it’d certainly give us a boost at a position that is currently full of question marks.

Already back in the portal.

The timing of it is surprising. That said, I’m not sure if he would have been able to produce a better season at BG than what they did this past year. They seemingly have a strong recruiting class coming in, but they also lost a ton to graduation and some key players in the portal.

Does Tahj already have somewhere in mind? Every FBS school currently has their QB1 in place heading into spring ball. Wherever he goes he’ll have to learn elements of a new offense and be behind the eight ball vs the incumbent starter. He was one QB injury away from being QB1 here and had an effective role in the offense despite being the backup.

I don’t think it’s the best move for him either, but I also don’t blame him if his desire is to be a starting QB. Like you mentioned, slim chance he’ll be starting anywhere at the FBS level. He already has his degree, so good luck to him wherever he goes. I also wonder if Roggow is/was pushing him for the QB2 spot.

Bullock in the portal.

Usually starts in early/mid March and ends late April. I’d guess something will be announced soon.

The majority of signings across college football already happened on the first signing day. Only a handful of signees were announced by the MAC schools that did announce new additions. The majority of our additions from here will come from the portal and JUCO. A number of JUCOs will sign in May/June as they finish up their degrees.

I think it’s programs attempting to figure out what they have in the first few years and also trying to stock the room accordingly with one QB per class. If it’s a miss or if the QB is too good, he’ll likely move on. Need talented young guys to run the scout team as well. Taking a true freshman versus taking a redshirt freshman out of the portal gives one more year of development in the system. I don’t have any feelings one way or another if the guy is HS, JUCO, or Portal at this point as long as he helps us win.

Yeah, its a dumpster fire. Kent actually signed what should pan out to be a pretty good prep class (assuming most stay). Yet the portal class doesn’t adequately replace what they lost (at least on paper). A number of the portal signees didn’t have other FBS options. Some didn’t have any other D1 options. Hard to believe the administration is giving the current crew a 3rd year.

Looks like Bishop Neal is our new safeties coach.

Haven’t seen anything today. By my count we still have around 14 scholarships to give, so more are incoming at some point.

Almost all of the 2023 MAC prep QB class has turned out to be a bust. Rough.

WR Justin Campbell and DT Zy Brockington are no longer listed on the roster.

Have to disagree with the notion he has no where to go. Like @MangoZip said, it’s clockwork with the Moorhead OC talk. Although, one of these days it might be reality. Moorhead will be one of the top OC options every cycle. His results as a HC at Akron have almost no correlation to his ability as a play-caller at a higher level program. I’ve said this a number of times - I believe this is his last shot at becoming a P4 HC again. He needs to be successful here to potentially have that opportunity. All that said, I would not be surprised if this coming season is his last at Akron. I hope that’s not the case, but if the administration does not opt into revenue sharing or devise some type of NIL funds for football players, I’m not sure why he would stay. He’s already fighting an uphill battle with resources and the gap will continue to grow without NIL funds. That, coupled with this coming year being the last of HS football for his son, would make sense if he’s tired of banging his head against the wall.

I saw that as well. Not sure what’s going on there. Some specialists have also been removed. So either those guys are moving on or the roster hasn’t been updated correctly. Edit: Some of the specialists are showing up again, but Granger is still missing. Terence Thomas is another notable omission - great athlete who has yet to make an impact.

The 2025 spring roster is up. It does not have any newcomers listed, but it does still list Bullock, Adams, Cooper, and Summers. Getting Cooper and Summers back at LB would be huge.