How do you rank transfer classes?
What transfers are really going to matter? Which programs are adding space force pieces?
One of the paradoxes of college football and how I theorize about it here relate to the two most impactful positions on the field and how those players are acquired.
Those positions are wide receiver and defensive tackle.
The most potent offensive sets these days are built around creating space, leverage, and rules for receivers to use to get open so the quarterback can easily throw them the ball. It’s the most potent form of offense. A great passing game with two particularly good wideouts is much more difficult for defenses to constrain then a great run game. It’s simple geometry. Triangulating and leveraging a running back who always gets the ball within a narrow corridor of space is much easier than doing so against receivers split wide and able to move about and theoretically receive the ball most anywhere on the field.
Defensive tackles tend to have the greatest impact on defense, partly because offenses insist on trying to run the ball regularly and controlling games in the trenches. Partly because a truly skilled and athletic 300+ pound dude who lines up directly across from the ball every snap has a chance to impact every play. Partly because everyone wants the 300+ pound guy who’s a true athlete and the planet’s supply of such people is limited.
I’d actually rank receivers as the more impactful position OVER defensive tackle…yet the acquisition of receivers is wildly simpler. The transfer portal has made it nearly impossible for a top program with anything to offer to be devoid of quality receiver play. For defensive tackle, less so, although the wealthy naturally benefit from the portal.
As the second portal window opens and closes, the movements of defensive tackles and wide receivers are the most important to track…
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