Football Update

It's game day for MBB, so a good time to peek in on the football team.  The portal deadline is closing, and signing day is next week.  As always, hat tip to @thetalontribune for tracking all this and keeping it in a public place.  It's there all the time.

The "official" roster was put on the BG website.  Not sure what triggered that since there are still portals open and the like, but it did contain some very good news.

JoJo Johnson and Myles Bradley, who had both been in the portal, have decided to return to the team.

This is big for our defense. Johnson was a key D-back for us, leading the MAC in passes defended. He was recruited at Notre Dame and played at Indiana.  And Bradley had 5 sacks and forced three fumbles.

There's four other DBs in the portal, Sanders Ellis at LB, and two (in particular) other additions we will discuss in a minute.  The defense is looking to be in a workable position.

The roster update included 2 new transfers, and since then, another DL has announced his commitment.

John Baker IV, EDGE

He went to Cass Tech in Detroit, riding a proven pipeline to UT, where he redshirted before leaving with the coaching change.  That's a legit D1 factory.  Listed as a three-star recruit by 247Sports and ESPN...No. 25 recruit by ESPN in the state of Michigan...247Sports lists him as the No. 30 player in the state...Two-time Detroit Free Press All-City selection, all-state in his senior year...As a senior, had 55 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 18 sacks, leading all edge rushers in Michigan the last two seasons in sacks and tackles for loss....He won three conference titles and the 2024 state championship.

Jonathan Goins, LB

He went to Pine Bluff and then to Alabama A&M, each for one year.  He appears to have been a good player in high school, but generated no numbers for either collegiate team.

Selah Brown, DL

This is another one of these huge prospects who has yet to click in college.  He is a transfer from Louisville.  Has played in 7 games over 2 years. Before that, he was a four-star prospect … listed as the No. 4 player in the state by the ON3 Consensus rankings … ranked as the No. 78 defensive lineman and the No. 6 athlete in Kentucky by ON3 … rated the No. 2 player in the state of Kentucky and the No. 1 defensive end in the state …four-star prospect by 247Sports …named Class 6A Player of the Year by Kentucky Football Coaches Association … finished with 31 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss as a senior  Had offers from Illinois, Kentucky, Boston College, Northwestern, Missouri, Tennessee, Stanford, Purdue, UCF, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia.

As for the players leaving BG, most have found a home. There were 35, plus one guy who dropped off in the roster update. 18 are playing in the FBS, 14 in P4 and 4 in G5.  10 are in FCS. 2 are in D2. 5 more remain in the portal or unkown.  Bam Booker retired.

Interesting that there were few lateral moves.  People either moved up for money or exposure, or down for playing time, which they could use to move up again.

Drew Pyne is not on the roster.  9 of the portal players were on defense, 6 on offense, and only one on the OL to date.