Pittsburgh quarterback Kedon Slovis warms up against Syracuse Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Pittsburgh. Slovis, who started for three years at USC prior to transferring to Pitt last season, will be under center for BYU as it ushers in its first season in the Big 12.
Barry Reeger, Associated Press
That collective sigh of relief heard around the college football world last week probably came from coaches and fans, who now don’t have to worry about losing their teams’ top players to other programs for more than three months.
As of last Thursday, football players can’t enter the transfer portal until May 1. That window will last only 15 days, after this past one lasted 45.
For the BYU football program, the recent window was full of surprises, both in terms of which players it lost, and which players it gained.
Obviously, teams can continue adding players from the portal, although that seems unlikely for BYU because the last day to add or drop classes was Jan. 17, and the school doesn’t allow students to enroll mid-semester.
So now seems like a good time to explore the question: Was the recently completed transfer cycle a net positive for the Cougars, or a net negative?
As of Monday, BYU had lost 13 players to the portal and/or other schools, although some of those players — see chart below — were nonscholarship guys. Also earlier this week, the Cougars had signed a dozen new players from the portal.
It should be noted that quarterback Jake Retzlaff is not on this list because he was at Riverside (California) City College, and not in the transfer portal. Nevertheless, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound gunslinger from Corona, California, has to be considered a fantastic addition to BYU’s quarterbacks room. More on that later.
Back to our question: How did BYU football fare, overall, in this transfer cycle? Did the Cougars get better, or worse?
Well, it is close to even, from the vantage point here. The Cougars picked up some players who should be starters and major contributors right away, guys such as former USC/Pitt quarterback Kedon Slovis, former Louisville/UNLV running back Aidan Robbins, former Boise State edge rusher Isaiah Bagnah, former …read more
Source:: Deseret News – Sports News