Dylan Raiola to Enter the Portal?

#29
#29
BlinghamptonVol said:
His younger brother decommitted from Nebraska. Maybe he enters the portal. He could be a great fit in Heup's system. He's got two years under his belt against Big 10 teams. I'm for it if we could pull him and give Faizon a year to learn. What do y'all think?
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The Mahomes cosplay is weird and embarrassing and I don't want any part of it.
 
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#30
#30
unfrozencvmanvol said:
In the current era there is a large portion of any CFB fanbase that by default believes anything shiny and new out of the Portal is better than what they already had.
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I think GMac can be really good. I wonder if he has much of a chance with Faizon coming in though. If GMac does well, he has another year starting after that and Faizon would be a junior before he's the man. I doubt he's waiting that long and I doubt we'd want to be paying millions for him to hold a clipboard.

A transfer comes in and plays a year and then goes pro, leaving a year to develop for Faizon and a QB battle in Spring 27 with the loser transferring. I just don't see how we hold on to Faizon if GMac does as well as Aguilar next year.
 
#31
#31
BlinghamptonVol said:
I think GMac can be really good. I wonder if he has much of a chance with Faizon coming in though. If GMac does well, he has another year starting after that and Faizon would be a junior before he's the man. I doubt he's waiting that long and I doubt we'd want to be paying millions for him to hold a clipboard.

A transfer comes in and plays a year and then goes pro, leaving a year to develop for Faizon and a QB battle in Spring 27 with the loser transferring. I just don't see how we hold on to Faizon if GMac does as well as Aguilar next year.
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Agree but as we have recently learned, 5 star QB's are no sure thing. If we like GMac we'll try to keep him.
 
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#37
#37
sjt18 said:
Why is there this much disrespect for GMac? Honest question, not trying to be abrasive.

Heupel obviously loves a big arm. GMac seems to have that and the head to go with it. He seemed to make progressions and reads well ahead of his experience during the spring game especially considering the newness of the system. He looked to be more comfortable with the speed of the game than most Fr.

I don't have anything against the other guys or even taking a look at the portal. Just wondering why everyone thinks it has to be someone other than GMac. I get why confidence might be low for Merklinger. But the grass isn't always greener. We've seen that already. Heupel inherited Hooker and recruited Milton. He overpaid Nico then got JA as the consolation prize.

I personally think one of the 3 guys that will hopefully be on the roster next fall can do the job. Spend the money on D then let the young O guys grow into their roles.
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I don’t get it either. Every QB is untested until they start playing.
 
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#38
#38
Franklin_Vol09 said:
So what weight do you believe he is AND where are you getting the data to show you are right?
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I’m just looking at him and seeing his arms look like Jordan McRae. He’s the skinniest football player I’ve seen us have. And everyone knows listed weights for skinny players are almost always inflated.

But let’s say he is 190. Just looking at him, he’s WAY too skinny and frail to survive a season. So whatever he weighs, he needs about 30 pounds added.
 
#39
#39
BlinghamptonVol said:
I think GMac can be really good. I wonder if he has much of a chance with Faizon coming in though. If GMac does well, he has another year starting after that and Faizon would be a junior before he's the man. I doubt he's waiting that long and I doubt we'd want to be paying millions for him to hold a clipboard.

A transfer comes in and plays a year and then goes pro, leaving a year to develop for Faizon and a QB battle in Spring 27 with the loser transferring. I just don't see how we hold on to Faizon if GMac does as well as Aguilar next year.
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GMac has less than 10 months on campus and only 1 off season Winter workout period. He will be much stronger next Spring and even stronger for the Fall practices. I am not that worried about him being strong enough to play in 2026. He actually has a stronger arm than Merk and Joey. I would like to see a third QB, but what kind of QB are you going to get who knows he likely see the field next year?
 
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#40
#40
sjt18 said:
Why is there this much disrespect for GMac? Honest question, not trying to be abrasive.

Heupel obviously loves a big arm. GMac seems to have that and the head to go with it. He seemed to make progressions and reads well ahead of his experience during the spring game especially considering the newness of the system. He looked to be more comfortable with the speed of the game than most Fr.

I don't have anything against the other guys or even taking a look at the portal. Just wondering why everyone thinks it has to be someone other than GMac. I get why confidence might be low for Merklinger. But the grass isn't always greener. We've seen that already. Heupel inherited Hooker and recruited Milton. He overpaid Nico then got JA as the consolation prize.

I personally think one of the 3 guys that will hopefully be on the roster next fall can do the job. Spend the money on D then let the young O guys grow into their roles.
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This may be the most balanced, intelligent post I have read on this board in the last month. Including mine.
 
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#41
#41
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
Untested. Everything you said about G-Mac could be said about Nico who performed pretty well when Milton sat out the bowl game and expectations were high and his talent was touted and ........ he wasn't terrible but he didn't make the strides his early promise seemed to predict.

Once bitten, twice shy.

G-Mac, who I think shows a lot of promise too, suffers because of what's happened in the past at UT. "This kid is ready and it's our year......" but alas, he isn't despite looking good in practice and in a limited set of reps.
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I don't think that's a good comparison. I remember being concerned with Nico's lack of performance that spring. Prime opportunity to show out... and he didn't. Then he went on to NOT develop into a leader or competent QB from the neck up.

GMac showed more ability to find the right receiver and throw the ball to a spot in the spring game than Nico did at UT imo. Yeah. That's just one sample at this point. But personally I feel better about him than I did Nico at any point.
 
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#42
#42
Carl Pickens said:
I think the concern with GMac is his lack of experience.
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But some expect Brandon to come in and start? Every QB is inexperienced... until they get experience. But you can mitigate that a lot by loading up on D and giving that QB an offense that doesn't require him to carry it.

Consider Nico. The run game carried him. All he had to do is not suck catastrophically. Instead, he sucked not quite that bad. If GMac can't hit those throws that Nico constantly missed then maybe he's not the right guy yet. But if he can and UT can run the ball better with an experienced OL and 3 good RBs then you're on to something.

IMO, GMac will be better prepared to start than Nico by next fall. He'll gain muscle. He'll have time in the system. He'll have a solid unit around him. And he's accurate.
 
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#43
#43
McDad said:
Others have mentioned he is untested and unknown. So I won't elaborate on that part.

There is almost-universal expectation that Merk transfers. From the knoxville radio guys to the "insiders" who post here. IF that is true, even if GMac is amazing as QB1, it is dangerous to enter a season with only 2 QBs on roster. So the conventional wisdom is we will be finding another QB in the portal regardless of whether GMac is ready or not.
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Everyone is dealing with that now though. A guy who is good enough to start somewhere won't sit as a back up like in the old days. I think most programs have a starter then a young player in development as the back up. Few programs can keep two starting caliber QBs happy.|

Go to the portal for a starter and you may lose GMac and very possibly Brandon too. The risks are more or less the same as is the landing spot. You are probably not going to have a #3 that should be an SEC starter.
 
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#45
#45
EastTNVol6240 said:
These are the portal days buddy. We ain’t gotta like em but we can’t change them. I’m not saying Gmac isn’t the guy. But you can bet if something nice and shiny and flashy enters the portal we will be chasing it. This is a business. If our coaches are good coaches they will chase whatever gives us the chance to win now or be left behind.
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There's a trap in that though. Go to the portal and "buy" a starter... and you are pretty much stuck starting him. And... A lot of programs are getting burned when those guys aren't good.

I don't know about others but I personally believe the kid from ASU would be a mistake. He's a bottom half of the Big 12 QB.
 
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#46
#46
Derek Reese's jumpshot said:
I’m just looking at him and seeing his arms look like Jordan McRae. He’s the skinniest football player I’ve seen us have. And everyone knows listed weights for skinny players are almost always inflated.

But let’s say he is 190. Just looking at him, he’s WAY too skinny and frail to survive a season. So whatever he weighs, he needs about 30 pounds added.
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I’ll tell you he is closer to 200
 
#47
#47
sjt18 said:
I don't think that's a good comparison. I remember being concerned with Nico's lack of performance that spring. Prime opportunity to show out... and he didn't. Then he went on to NOT develop into a leader or competent QB from the neck up.

GMac showed more ability to find the right receiver and throw the ball to a spot in the spring game than Nico did at UT imo. Yeah. That's just one sample at this point. But personally I feel better about him than I did Nico at any point.
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You and I agree on more than we disagree (looking at your other posts in this thread) but I'm not convinced G-Mac is ready for one reason: the depth chart.

It's reasonably clear to everyone Merk will probably drop a level when he transfers but Merk appeared to be QB2 most of the year.

Perhaps Josh was throwing Merk a bone, hoping he'd stay after G-Mac won QB1 next year, but perhaps not.

I'm not being adversarial with the question but why do you think Merk seemed to stay QB2 most of the season if Merk is dropping down a level and G-Mac is ready?
 
#48
#48
sjt18 said:
There's a trap in that though. Go to the portal and "buy" a starter... and you are pretty much stuck starting him. And... A lot of programs are getting burned when those guys aren't good.

I don't know about others but I personally believe the kid from ASU would be a mistake. He's a bottom half of the Big 12 QB.
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I agree. But it’s not any better on the end of recruiting high schoolers. Look at the money we paid Nico to sit as a freshmen, and the money we paid him to suck the year after that. Millions. No guarantee on either end.
 
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#49
#49
sjt18 said:
Everyone is dealing with that now though. A guy who is good enough to start somewhere won't sit as a back up like in the old days. I think most programs have a starter then a young player in development as the back up. Few programs can keep two starting caliber QBs happy.|

Go to the portal for a starter and you may lose GMac and very possibly Brandon too. The risks are more or less the same as is the landing spot. You are probably not going to have a #3 that should be an SEC starter.
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Point acknowledged without agreement.

You asked "why". I shared my thoughts. Whether it's the new reality, too risky for our current roster, offensive to Gmac or Faze, I really don't know. But It makes sense if we are pursuing a portal QB, we want the best one we can find and allow the "competition" to sort it out.
 
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#50
#50
Derek Reese's jumpshot said:
I’m just looking at him and seeing his arms look like Jordan McRae. He’s the skinniest football player I’ve seen us have. And everyone knows listed weights for skinny players are almost always inflated.

But let’s say he is 190. Just looking at him, he’s WAY too skinny and frail to survive a season. So whatever he weighs, he needs about 30 pounds added.
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Said it before and I’ll say it again, this is a garbage excuse. That kid can’t put on a healthy 30 lbs over the next 3 years. Some people are just built the way they’re built. Tyler bray did alright and was a bean pole. The kid is a QB, not a RB.

Sure I’d love for him to fill out, but realistically and healthily maybe you get 10-15 lbs on him before next season. That’s prob even a stretch unless it’s cheeseburger weight. Either he’s good enough next year or he’s not.
 
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