Post Transfer Portal Analysis

Football
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Alright. So now that we are done with the portal, for the most part, I thought I would go position by position to examine what we gained and what we lost. Current two deep and if we improved at each position.

QB
In: Keisean Henderson, Luke Carney
Out: Austin Carlisle, Zeon Chriss

Two deep: Weigman, Henderson

Outlook: You add the number 1 player in the country in Keisean Henderson to learn from Conner Weigman. I expect Keisean to have some packages each game throughout the season. Weigman is back to build on a very solid 2025. Fully healthy and gets to play in the same offense. That is huge.

This room has upgraded big time from 2025

RB
In: Makhi Hughes, John Hebert, Reshaun Sanford (2025 season ending injury)
Out: Dean Connors, Stacy Sneed, Jamarion Burnette

Two deep: Hughes, Sanford/Butler

Outlook: Willie gets back a guy that rushed for 1400 yards and 7 touchdowns as a freshman. You also add John Hebert (top 10 RB in 2025 class) and get Sanford back. DJButler returns who rushed for 300 yards on a 4.4 average yards per carry. This room is deep. You lose Dean Connors which really hurts but I’m expecting Hughes to get back to his Tulane form with Willie.

This room has upgraded in 2026.

WR
In: Trent Walker, Muizz Tounkara, Tyson Turner, Paris Melvin, Keavon Roberts, Jeremiah Bushnell
Out: Devan Williams, Marquis Shoulders, Mekhi Mews, Stephon Johnson (season ending injury after 6 games)

Two deep
Thomas/Melvin
Walker/Martin
Young/Broussard

Outlook: this room needed to improve. Outside of Thomas there wasn’t really a reliable receiver. Some of that was due to youth. Some of that was because our older guys weren’t good enough. That changes with the addition of Trent Walker who accumulated an average of 850 yards on 75 catches over the last two years. He is a big time get to pair with Amare Thomas who finished as first team all big 12 last year. I expect Koby Young to be our third starting receiver. A guy that is dangerous as a deep threat and drew a ton of PI on guys that could not cover him on go routes. I expect him to continue to progress in a big way this season. We also brought in Paris Melvin who is one of the best players in the state of Texas in 2025.

This group has improved tremendously in 2026

TE
In: Patrick Overmyer, Skoop Martin
Out: Tanner Koziol

Two deep: Overmyer/McGary

Outlook: huge loss in Tanner Koziol. A guy with 70+ catches, 700+ yards, and 5+ touchdowns that will be playing on Sundays in 2026. Luke McGary did not do much in the passing game in 2025 and I expect that to continue in 2026. He excels in the blocking game. Patrick Overmyer appears to be the heir apparent to Koziol. And if you squint hard enough you may think he is Koziol. He was a freshman all-American and a guy that has averaged about 300 yards receiving on 30 catches with 4 touchdowns over his first two years in college. I expect him to be a huge part of the attack in 2026. This is a guy that has Sunday written all over him. Adding Skoop Martin is huge for the future of this room.

This room has downgraded. But potential for Overmyer to replicate 90% of the production we had with Koziol. He is that good.

OL
In: Anthony Boswell, Shadre Hurst, Drew Terrill, Hayden Wright, Aaron Wolford, Noah Abebe, Troy Pless, Rhett Gray
Out: Jason Brooks, Matthew Wykoff, Demetrius Hunter, Dalton Merryman (maybe), David Ndukwe, Cayden Bowie, Derek Joiner

Two Deep
Terrill/Dean
Hurst/Crawford
Boswell/McLain
Agnello/Terrell
Ebosele/Hautau

Outlook: You add two of the top 10 interior OL in the portal. Two potential all-Americans. You made a top 20 tackle (according to on3) who was a second team all MAC and graded as the second best tackle in the MAC last year, according to PFF. You bring back your best OL from last year in Agnello. You also bring back another veteran in Ebosele. You added some good young pieces from the high school ranks to pair with what you added last year with Dean and RJ Lee. It would not surprise me if Wolford finds himself into the two deep. I also expect Demetris Dean to be in the two deep. Bottom line, you added three guys in the portal that would have been far and away your best OL last season.

This room has been vastly improved. This is probably the best starting unit since I started following Houston football (2009).

Overall, our offense has improved tremendously. I expect us to be a top 2 or 3 offense in the Big 12 and top 10-15 nationally. This offense will be a lot of fun and will be vastly improved from last year.

That was a lot. I will have a new post to talk about the defense. But curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on the offense. And if you agree/disagree with me.

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@Joprior23 the hardest part is projecting young players that we retained. That could have a big role next yr

Not losing a ton of offensive recruits to the portal is a great sign. Roster retention is key :key:

I wanted another speedy receiver. Who had proven production. But that gives Koby Young a big oppprtunity next yr

The concern is keeping Weigman healthy. (At Texas Tech 3rd game of the season) Not having to run him 15 times a game. And when teams bring pressure, are our Receivers consistently getting open

Besides Amare & Koziol. The rest of the receivers the answer was no.

But solid breakdown. Excited for next season

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It’ll be interesting to see where Melvin ends up getting the most reps. I could easily see it being on the defensive side of the ball.

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Trent Walker is going to be huge in this offense. And can help replace some of the production lost with Koziol. I really love the Walker and Overmyer additions.

I also think Weigman will be asked to run less now that you have Hughes coming in and Sanford getting healthy. But even if Sanford can’t stay healthy, you bring in Hebert. And it has been proven that freshmen can make huge impacts at RB. You also should have a better receiving core so Weigman will be asked to pass more, versus just run.

I don’t expect Weigman to run the ball 150 times in 2026.

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After watching Hebert in the all-star game, I think he might be a great wild card for the season. Tough as nails, wants those extra yards.

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If Hebert can’t pass protect, he won’t see the field. We’ll find out if he can be trusted to be in the backfield cuz he never had to do it at Strake.
See Parker Jenkins.

Nate

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Every single need (outside of TE) was replaced by players that at worse are the same type of guy they’re replacing. & that’s no slight at Overmyer… Koziol was just that good. Helluva job by the staff to identify the guys & go get em.

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Very excited about the OL additions. This offense looked solid at the end of the year, and I expect us to be even better next year.

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Except at OL. The three we brought in are elite players. Huge upgrades. Same thing with Trent Walker at receiver. OL and WR are such improved rooms in 2026.

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Love this analysis and am in complete agreement with your takes, thanks for pulling together your thoughts on this @Joprior23. Obviously ecstatic about the OL gets, but the 1 kid I’m most excited about is Overmyer. Such a critical position in Nagle’s offense, was following this kid as soon as he announced for the Portal. We’re VERY fortunate to have landed him.

Are you going to pull together a Defensive version of this too? Dying to read your takes on that side of the ball.

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I honestly didn’t look any further than the OLINE. I hope UH can put together an OLINE that scares the hell out of people. After that, everything else is gravy. UH always has a good number of skill people so I don’t worry about them.

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Yup. Will get a defense post tonight.

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For what it’s worth, the new roster appears to be out for spring on the official athletic website and I’m seeing Thompson and Douglas as guys still rostered but not Merryman.

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Awesome work. Thank you

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I am excited about the offensive line as well. Hopefully they can jell sooner than later. I thought the 2025 offensive line had their best game against LSU.

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I think I am really optimistic on our WRs,QB play. I am not sure about TE and RB, wait and see. OL is the most important group, on paper, looks solid. We shall see.

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Alright. Defense. G

DL
In: Ashton Porter, De’Marion Thomas, Ejiroghene Egodogbare, Kaleb Walker, Isaiah Broughton, Xavier Fleming
Out: Carlos Allen, Eddie Walls, Reshad Sterling, Everett Rogers, Xavier Stillman, Zavian Tibbs

Two deep
Porter/Buhake
Thomas/Egodogbare
Laufau/Lee
Mack/McCutchin

Outlook: Carlos Allen has been the anchor in the middle. His loss hurts. As does Eddie Walls who racked up 7+ sacks for us last season. I do think Ashton Porter will be able to fill the void. I could also see a scenario where Mack moves over to replace Walls and McCutchin starts at Jack. With Porter backing up one of them. But an elite 3 guys coming off the edge with Mack, McCutchin, and Porter. I think Buhake is the young guy that cracks the two deep here. De’Marion Thomas and Ejiroghene Egodogbare should be a nice duo to plug up the middle. And you return Khalil Laufau who was good for us last season.

Slight downgrade here. Need Porter to be solid for us. I think De’Marion Thomas can eat space in the middle. But hard to replace a Carlos Allen.

LB
In: Jaden Yates, Miller Malone, Bryson Castille, Tyler Covar
Out: Jalen Garner, Corey Platt

Two deep
Fotu/Richmond Ugo
Yates/Glass

Outlook: Lose Jalen Garner and Corey Platt. Replace those two with Jaden Yates and Miller Malone. Jalen Garner was good for us last season. Corey Platt was solid. He was really the only one I hated to see leave to go in the portal. Jaden Yates was a star at Marshall. And a solid player for a top 5 Ole Miss team. He is going to be great alongside Sione Fotu for us.

This position stays relatively the same

DB
In: Jalen Mayo, Javion White, Paris Melvin, Javen Holmes, Mudassir Abdullah
Out: Latrell McCutchin, Zelmar Vedder (maybe), Wrook Brown, Marc Stampley

Two Deep
James/West
White/Barbas
Webb/Douglas
Allen/Thompson
Mayo/Melvin

Outlook: At CB, you lose McCutchin and potentially Vedder. You add the best corner in the FCS ranks last year in Jalen Mayo. I believe Kenzy West will be ready to enter the two deep this year. And I think Paris Melvin will be too talented to keep off of the field. You also have Keany Parks and JD Rhym at CB. At safety, you lose Wrook Brown and Marc Stampley. You bring in one of the best safeties in the portal in Javion White. And return two starters in Webb and Allen.

For now, I will say this room stays the same. Get Vedder back and I will say DB is improved.

Overall, I think you are about the same on paper. Maybe slightly downgraded due to the loss of Allen and Walls from the front 7. Either way, I think this is another year of having a top 25 defense.

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You have us craving more. Will you do special teams? KR, PR, LS, H, FG K, P and KO K.

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Very nice writeups…

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Myles Parker will be in the DL rotation.

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