RB Devyn Ford (portal) commits

[TDIrish27]

Penn St has had 4 RB's leave in the last 18 months . One of them headed to Starkville was their leading rusher in both 20 and 21-----Ford was the 2nd leading rusher on that 2020 team. They have brought in 2 great young RB's who beat these guys out-----it happens.

I'll say this----I like the fact that he didn't walk away from the program and he stayed and got his degree.

 

[bizzybecknd]

Why would you categorize it as a “swap” when nothing could be further than the truth.

It wasn’t a swap.

Chronologically, Diggs left, diminishing the talent pool at RB.

Subsequently, Ford entered, increasing the talent pool at RB.

WHY would anyone object to acquiring Ford ?

Well Diggs left and Ford replaced him, call it what you want but the replacement wasn’t as good as the original.

 

[Patrirish]

Well Diggs left and Ford replaced him, call it what you want but the replacement wasn’t as good as the original.

You can’t view it in that context, as Ford didn’t replace Diggs in a singular transaction.

Diggs left and created a void at RB, a void totally unrelated to Ford

The question is, did the team improve with the addition of Ford ?

 

[Pennick4]

This is a top 5 dumbest comment I've read on this forum.

He is a pretty consistent in his dumb posts! Yes u gotta give him that.

 

[Get Nasty]

Hartman is a one year wonder. If the coaches can’t snag an elite receiver it’s a travesty. The chance to play with Hartman in a gold helmet on NBC and vie for a playoff as a feature WR is for nearly every receiver in America a once in a lifetime opportunity. It should be as easy as stealing candy from a baby to convince one to come to South Bend. But, I haven’t heard a whisper to suggest we are even trying. My guess is there isn’t anyone with the grades to get in.

Agree 100%…. Tyree is our leading returning receiver, and that’s from the rb position

A joke we didn’t land a stud wr

 

[Get Nasty]

Because there aren't a lot of really good players still available at this point. Most of the highly sought after transfers have already found a home. So this looks like a good move for depth.

So we missed out is your take?

 

[Get Nasty]

This is a top 5 dumbest comment I've read on this forum.

How so? A talented wr with a bad qb should go to a school with a good qb… pretty simple

 

[Get Nasty]

I prefer to look at this positively. I do not accept that “Ford could not make it at psu”. Fact is the kid was not healthy after his freshman year when he had a good year. I think he has a lot in the tank and whole rankings can be wrong, it is a stretch to think the number one apb of 2019 can’t cut it at psu. Nick singleton or any other rb at psu is not the full reason Ford did not play He was sick. It’s not a bad use of a scholie and has upside

He did not have a good frosh year, he had one super long td run opening game vs Idaho… that one run was a third of his yards and tds for the entire season

He showed some talent but again couldn’t get any consistent pt over 4 years at psu

 

[NDinNJ]

How so? A talented wr with a bad qb should go to a school with a good qb… pretty simple

I'm happy to see that the staff is going with the talented group they already have on the roster. Instead of with the old regime where they placed more emphasis on experience over raw talent. The coaching staff is clearly going to put the best players on the field regardless if they are freshman or seniors.
Thomas, Greathouse, Merriweather are all studs that are going to be playmakers.

 

[mbd11]

So we missed out is your take?

We weren't even looking for a RB until Diggs just left a few weeks ago. And at that point, there weren't many RBs available. So you can't really blame Freeman for that.

 

[savvyandsassier]

This dude was like a national top 50 HS recruit and was more highly rated than any of our young, unproven RBs, or any RB on the roster at all..... I don't know what that says, but probably more than a tackling dummy. And a salutary reminder let's say, that all or even most or even half or even well less than that of elite HS recruits become good college players. To all the douchebags and lickspittles who assume that our modest stable of young former HS phenom RBs are just going to waltz into Diggs' shoes without missing a beat.

 

[tbone3114]

You can’t view it in that context, as Ford didn’t replace Diggs in a singular transaction.

Diggs left and created a void at RB, a void totally unrelated to Ford

The question is, did the team improve with the addition of Ford ?

Our O line is better than theirs!!! So the comparison at this point is moot.

 

[IrishMike409]

You’re contradicting yourself.

On one hand you say that it should be as “easy as stealing candy from a baby” and then you state that “there isn’t anyone with the grades to get in.”

If it was easy, they’d be here by now.

Pat just won the thread.

 

[mirer03]

I prefer to look at this positively. I do not accept that “Ford could not make it at psu”. Fact is the kid was not healthy after his freshman year when he had a good year. I think he has a lot in the tank and whole rankings can be wrong, it is a stretch to think the number one apb of 2019 can’t cut it at psu. Nick singleton or any other rb at psu is not the full reason Ford did not play He was sick. It’s not a bad use of a scholie and has upside

I agree....pretty sure from a star status he was ranked higher than diggs or estime....maybe a change of scenery and new strength program is what he needs

 

[mirer03]

You can’t view it in that context, as Ford didn’t replace Diggs in a singular transaction.

Diggs left and created a void at RB, a void totally unrelated to Ford

The question is, did the team improve with the addition of Ford ?

Exactly. Really have to look at it from production standpoint. Nd lost x potential production from diggs, can they replace it with a combination of who was left in the room. The answer was yes with an asterisk due to injury history .. this just helps get them to their perceived production goals. It's a good pick up, especially since he has 2 years left.

 

[Get Nasty]

The more I think about it the more I like it as long as does is healthy And all in.

Just hope we aren’t done with transfers

 

[BGI User 1596]

I agree....pretty sure from a star status he was ranked higher than diggs or estime....maybe a change of scenery and new strength program is what he needs

Can he catch the ball?

 

[1Redrum]

Can he catch the ball?

Can he block?

 

[Golson5]

Hes only going to play if we have injuries. Nice depth move

 

[bizzybecknd]

You can’t view it in that context, as Ford didn’t replace Diggs in a singular transaction.

Diggs left and created a void at RB, a void totally unrelated to Ford

The question is, did the team improve with the addition of Ford ?

Clearly it wasn’t a transaction and understand where you’re coming from but the fact is, ND lost the man who carried the majority of attempts last year. Regardless of the reason he left, the running back room did not improve with the man chosen to replace him.

You’re a CEO, sales guy leave to another job, you replace him with a guy who has produced 15% of the previous man’s revenue.. I don’t view a warm body as getting better, raise the bar!

 

[Patrirish]

Clearly it wasn’t a transaction and understand where you’re coming from but the fact is, ND lost the man who carried the majority of attempts last year. Regardless of the reason he left, the running back room did not improve with the man chosen to replace him.

You’re a CEO, sales guy leave to another job, you replace him with a guy who has produced 15% of the previous man’s revenue.. I don’t view a warm body as getting better, raise the bar!

And what happens if you don’t replace him ?

 

[bizzybecknd]

And what happens if you don’t replace him ?

You let one of the young SDRs prove themselves and save on costs of hiring/recruiting/benefits/new salary/team morale.

 

[Patrirish]

You let one of the young SDRs prove themselves and save on costs of hiring/recruiting/benefits/new salary/team morale.

How do you know he’ll prove himself.

And if he doesn’t the team is worse off.

it‘s easy to gamble from the stands.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush !!

 

[mirer03]

Hes only going to play if we have injuries. Nice depth move

I bet he plays a fair amount the first 5 weeks.

Price won't be looked at during that time until at least ncsu, and I think this move pushes his return back (that's a good thing).

Love will just be on campus and will need to earn some trust in practice first, outside of extreme blow out.

That leaves estime, Payne, and Ford. ND won't want unneeded miles on estime vs tn st and central mich... To me that means Payne and Ford will get some serious run.

 

[Golson5]

I bet he plays a fair amount the first 5 weeks.

Price won't be looked at during that time until at least ncsu, and I think this move pushes his return back (that's a good thing).

Love will just be on campus and will need to earn some trust in practice first, outside of extreme blow out.

That leaves estime, Payne, and Ford. ND won't want unneeded miles on estime vs tn st and central mich... To me that means Payne and Ford will get some serious run.

I think Price will be ready game 1. He'll be 14 months out at that point. He's young and that's a lot of time

 

[bizzybecknd]

How do you know he’ll prove himself.

And if he doesn’t the team is worse off.

it‘s easy to gamble from the stands.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush !!

Gotta take some risks big fella! Either retain your top talent or develop your talent. Not a fan of adding a wounded bird to the stable.

 

[Patrirish]

Gotta take some risks big fella! Either retain your top talent or develop your talent. Not a fan of adding a wounded bird to the stable.

I guess it’s easy to take risks when you job isn’t on the line.

With the portal and NIL, retaining your top talent isn’t so easy.

You’d rather leave the stable empty ?
in a physically violent game, especially for RB’s, depth is critical.

Evidently, the coaching staff felt that taking Ford Improved the team.

 

[Get Nasty]

I'm happy to see that the staff is going with the talented group they already have on the roster. Instead of with the old regime where they placed more emphasis on experience over raw talent. The coaching staff is clearly going to put the best players on the field regardless if they are freshman or seniors.
Thomas, Greathouse, Merriweather are all studs that are going to be playmakers.

Going portal is why we were 11-1 in 2021, not going portal is a big part of the reason we were 8-4 in 2022

 

[bizzybecknd]

I guess it’s easy to take risks when you job isn’t on the line.

With the portal and NIL, retaining your top talent isn’t so easy.

You’d rather leave the stable empty ?
in a physically violent game, especially for RB’s, depth is critical.

Evidently, the coaching staff felt that taking Ford Improved the team.

Didn’t realize the stable was empty?? I think it proves the Diggs loss was felt by the team/staff, many folks here didn’t think it was a loss.

 

[Patrirish]

Didn’t realize the stable was empty?? I think it proves the Diggs loss was felt by the team/staff, many folks here didn’t think it was a loss.

I don’t see how anyone could think that Diggs’s departure wasn’t a loss, but I’ve been surprised by many folk‘s opinion on here. 😜

 

[NDinNJ]

Didn’t realize the stable was empty?? I think it proves the Diggs loss was felt by the team/staff, many folks here didn’t think it was a loss.

I would think anytime you lose a scholarship player it would be considered a loss

 

[Kelso86]

Going portal is why we were 11-1 in 2021, not going portal is a big part of the reason we were 8-4 in 2022

"Going portal is why we were 11-1 in 2021"

Besides Coan -- who else came to ND via the portal in 2021?