2025-2026 Portal Updates

lo country said:
And the most TD’s of any of those guys save Barika Kpeenu. Brown tied EJ with 15 total from his 2024 season vs EJ 2025 season. Yes, “better competition”, but comparing him to his NDSU peers, his TD total is #2 for RB’s. I’ll take that. Total yards or yards per carry can be skewed by long runs. Browns longest was 46 I think. Might not have top end speed, but he finds the end zone. Also rushed for 415 yrs and 6 TD’s and 120 receiving yards and 2 TD’s with Miami. RB2 and more situational runs. I still think he’s worth a shot. Be the most experienced back on our roster. Being part of a NC at NDSU and playing in the CFP has to count for something as well. Again, worth a shot.
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lo country said:
But what wins games? And what factors into YPC? Just saying stats matter. YPC is a huge predictor of success. But so are TD’s. He’s worth a shot. Be the most experienced guy in the room. And you want to flip culture? A NC at NDSU and playing in CFP brings a winning edge NU hasn’t had in a while. And if Barthel developed EJ behind our OL, I think Brown will prove to be a good get and add some legit depth to a very young room.
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To me, rushing TDs are more of a team stat. He happened to be the guy they handed the ball to inside the 5 - as we have unfortunately learned there's not a guarantee you can punch it in with anybody, so there's definitely a skill. But do we really think NDSU's backup RB wouldn't have gotten a similar number of TDs given the same short yardage opportunities? 2023 the two QBs combined for 26 rushing touchdowns. 2022 the QB had 15, and then the top 3 running backs each had 8 or 9. It's not like the team magically ran for more touchdowns because he was back there (the 38 they had in 2024 is actually their least by a bit), they just used him more as the short yardage back.

Meanwhile we can say that Brown was measurably worse by YPC, assuming the same level of OL play. Which is not an entirely fair assumption, but there was an immediate drop of YPC (both measuring by just the leading rusher and the team) that rebounded this year without him. Maybe the OL was just worse that year, but it's interesting that his one year playing there was their worst rushing season by far by any measure (including TDs) since at least 2021 (can't be bothered to keep going back right now). YPC, YPG, TDs per game - all their worst by quite a ways, and rebounded in 2025.

I think he is a functional back - good in short yardage and not limited entirely to that role, and played on winning teams. He also clearly wants to get paid, and I don't think it's a good use of the money.
 
commando said:
we currently have 19 who entered the portal
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macroboy said:
If you look at who we have in the portal I think we are.
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Just checking the numbers shown on 247 for each team (probably not up to the minute), here's how many each Big Ten team has leaving to the portal.

Penn State 40
Michigan State 38
Minnesota 21
Illinois 22
Michigan 20
Ohio State 20
UCLA 20
USC 19
Purdue 19
Wisconsin 19
Nebraska 16
Rutgers 14
Oregon 13
Washington 12
Maryland 11
Indiana 7
Iowa 7
Northwestern 5

So it looks like we're less aggressive than average in updating our roster.
 
Toe said:
Just checking the numbers shown on 247 for each team (probably not up to the minute), here's how many each Big Ten team has leaving to the portal.

Penn State 40
Michigan State 38
Minnesota 21
Illinois 22
Michigan 20
Ohio State 20
UCLA 20
USC 19
Purdue 19
Wisconsin 19
Nebraska 16
Rutgers 14
Oregon 13
Washington 12
Maryland 11
Indiana 7
Iowa 7
Northwestern 5

So it looks like we're less aggressive than average in updating our roster.
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Agree....I mean if we have this huge war chest, make some room to spend it.
 
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