Rating the 4* Iowa State transfers

[PSUFTG]

Kyle Brady was a first team AA and top 10 pick in the NFL. Brahmer will never sniff any of that. Brahmer is a poor mans Keith Olsmeer.

No two TEs were ever more different in style/skillset than Brahmer and Brady (A guy who could have probably been an All American Offensive Tackle if they moved him there - who was also skilled enough to be a beast in the pass game. I haven't seen Brahmer block a guy all year - SLIGHT hyperbole, of course).

In addition to one being an All American at what he did - and the other not so much

 

[Moogy]

Used Kelce as what NFL currently calls TE.Didn’t say Brahmer was in Kelce's orbit.

And I wasn't speaking as to whether Brahmer is in Kelce's "orbit" or not ... it was the fact that Kelce can and does operate as a "traditional" TE, as he blocks adequately, whereas Brahmer just stinks at blocking (he's more in the Gesicki mold, which is a niche role, not what is "currently considered an NFL TE").

 

[JoePaMajorCFBrecord409Ws]

Rapp is the best all around TE on PSU'S team. He's a great blocker and has good hands. I'd like to know how pro scouts would grade our TEs.

They would grade the PSU TE now playing at VaTech the highest - Luke Reynolds. Reynolds is probably going to be the first TE taken in the draft. Go figure, both of the Franklin recruited TEs are >>>>> than the the Campbell recruited TE.

 

[KC-KS-Lion]

Becht couldn't wear Grunkemeyer's jock strap. Biggest mistake CMC made. We probably only have 2 losses instead of 4.

I thought Grunk showed as good improvement over the his starts as I've seen, especially for someone who was expected to in that season.

With some luck (untimely interception off of the TE Reynold's hand and bad call for fourth down attempt at Iowa, and fumble by Allen/lucky toe tap in end zone with Indiana), he could have won 2 more games.

Even not supposedly athletic as Becht, I'd trade the 5+/- yds per run attempt with Rocco for the less often 10+ by Grunk.

I will say Rocco usually throws nice out over the shoulder passes to Sowell...he gets in trouble when he throws shorter.

 

[LMTLION]

How much would it take to get Rapp to come back for another season instead of the nfl or is the nfl an automatic? Pair Rapp with a consistent qb, whether Manske or from the portal, and I think we see him approach a Freiermuth or Warren type of season. I know you never hear this number for a TE, but I think he’d be worth a mill of NIL.

 

[LMTLION]

LOL Brahmer has never been anything to write home about.

Can't block a lick, and is not an effective downfield threat.
He is.... tall. That's about it.

Grab one of the Euros on the PSU hoops roster and put him out there - you'd get about the same impact (that is a bit of hyperbole, of course).

He is Mike Gesicki - with even LESS interest in blocking and no ability to make plays as a downfield receiver.

I would disagree on the blocking, at least yesterday. He certainly did block. He’s no Rapp but I think the potential is there and his QB failed him most of the year.

 

[Nitt1300]

Why is any of this even remotely surprising?

 

[Marshall2323]

And I wasn't speaking as to whether Brahmer is in Kelce's "orbit" or not ... it was the fact that Kelce can and does operate as a "traditional" TE, as he blocks adequately, whereas Brahmer just stinks at blocking (he's more in the Gesicki mold, which is a niche role, not what is "currently considered an NFL TE").

Have you watched Kelce recently?

 

[Marshall2323]

They would grade the PSU TE now playing at VaTech the highest - Luke Reynolds. Reynolds is probably going to be the first TE taken in the draft. Go figure, both of the Franklin recruited TEs are >>>>> than the the Campbell recruited TE.

Reynolds is by far the best bet in terms of draft potential. But it would sure be nice to match him with Rapp.

 

[Marshall2323]

How much would it take to get Rapp to come back for another season instead of the nfl or is the nfl an automatic? Pair Rapp with a consistent qb, whether Manske or from the portal, and I think we see him approach a Freiermuth or Warren type of season. I know you never hear this number for a TE, but I think he’d be worth a mill of NIL.

If Manske isn't better than Rocco right now, PSU can't enter next season with him as the starter .

 

[Jason1743]

Rappaleya>>>Brahmer. Brahmer is a poor man’s Kyle Brady.

Brahmer is a homeless man’s Kyle Brady.

 

[bdgan]

Becht couldn't wear Grunkemeyer's jock strap. Biggest mistake CMC made. We probably only have 2 losses instead of 4.

There's no doubt in my mind that we would have been better off with Grunk/Reynolds than Becht/Brahmer. I can only think of two reasons why Campbell preferred his Iowa State players.

1. 1) He thought they were better than they are.
2. 2) He needed Becht in order to get most of the other 23 to transfer.

 

[bdgan]

I have a different take.

Who are the people behind these brilliant ratings of portal players? Those are the ones who are disappointing and probably need to find a different line of work.

The portal ratings were absurd from the start and it’s very unfair to expect the players to live up to a mis-evaluation of talent made by someone else.

Most of the former ISU players have obvious talent ceilings. It blows my mind that someone assigned a 4-star rating to most of these players.

I understand why you say that but a lot of people on this board thing it's better to pay transfers who have proven experience than to pay high school kids who haven't proven anything at the college level.

 

[Bvillebaron]

Rappaleya>>>Brahmer. Brahmer is a poor man’s Kyle Brady.

Brahmer isn’t close to being a poor man’s Kyle Brady. I mean c’mon.

 

[Bvillebaron]

I have a different take.

Who are the people behind these brilliant ratings of portal players? Those are the ones who are disappointing and probably need to find a different line of work.

The portal ratings were absurd from the start and it’s very unfair to expect the players to live up to a mis-evaluation of talent made by someone else.

Most of the former ISU players have obvious talent ceilings. It blows my mind that someone assigned a 4-star rating to most of these players.

Campbell was the one who brought these players in irrespective of their ratings.

 

[bdgan]

The full time gm overpaid for all of them.

We got 24 transfers from Iowa State but this list is just the 4* kids. You would like to think that NINE EXPERIENCED 4* TRANSFERS combined with returning players like Dixson, Rojas, Donkoh, and Cousins could form a competitive team. That's why most of us were predicting 9-3 or better. 2027 was supposed to be a more difficult rebuilding year because these kids are one and done.

IMO Sowell is the only 4* transfer to meet/exceed expectations.

 

[Nitt1300]

Campbell was the one who brought these players in irrespective of their ratings.

He didn't really have a lot of choice, given the ineptitude of the coaching search.

 

[Bvillebaron]

PSU was not keeping Grunk unless TS was head coach. JF was going to get him otherwise, same with Reynolds and about 8-10 others.

Grunk said publicly he is a loyal person and didn’t portal out until after Campbell brought in his boy Becht and he realized he had two chances to play this year regardless of how he looked in practice: fat and none. There were other QBs in the portal besides Becht regardless.

 

[bdgan]

Where are these star rankings from? I’m seeing a different list that has doesn’t hold many of these guys in such high regard (they’re 3 star transfers, at best). The list I’m looking at also lists out the transfers PSU lost and, man, Jim Knowles really did a number on us, taking all the defensive talent with him to Tennessee.

https://www.puntandrally.com/teamportals.php?team=Penn+State

247 composite

It's their rating as a transfer, not their rating coming out of high school.

 

[JoePaMajorCFBrecord409Ws]

I understand why you say that but a lot of people on this board thing it's better to pay transfers who have proven experience than to pay high school kids who haven't proven anything at the college level.

Well, that "lot of people" would include Cignetti who many consider the absolute best coach and evaluator of talent in Professional CFB (both of his Indiana teams were built on Free Agents - the average age of his starters last year was almost 24 years old).

 

[Bvillebaron]

Even with TS is was unlikely but I agree with your point 100%

OF COURSE you would.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Rapp is the best all around TE on PSU'S team. He's a great blocker and has good hands. I'd like to know how pro scouts would grade our TEs.

Right now, Kiper has…

Tight ends​

1. Trey'Dez Green, LSU
2. Jamari Johnson, Oregon
3. Luke Reynolds, Virginia Tech
4. Andrew Rappleyea, Penn State
5. Peter Clarke, Temple

 

[Bvillebaron]

I understand why you say that but a lot of people on this board thing it's better to pay transfers who have proven experience than to pay high school kids who haven't proven anything at the college level.

Some of us think it’s useful to bring in transfers who can actually play. Not an either or.

 

[JoePaMajorCFBrecord409Ws]

Some of us think it’s useful to bring in transfers who can actually play. Not an either or.

Exactly, Chesney had no problem bringing in Free Agents who were actually worth the $$$ they were being paid (20 of UCLA's 22 starters are Free Agents). This is true for Stein at Kentucky and Cignetti before both of them.... many other examples. This nonsense about Campbell not paying these worthless Free Agents big $$$ (and in many cases pushed out better Franklin recruited players with his Free Agent transfers) is utterly laughable. Campbell, and nobody else, chose to pay these Free Agents huge money - in many cases recruiting and signing them over vastly better players already on PSU's roster. Campbell's recruiting and "talent evaluation" skills look extremely suspect based on known results this year. His "hit/miss" ratio is 100% in the wrong direction - especially where he had the luxury of existing starters at position after position (QB, LB, DL, etc......). Campbell went with "his guy" Free Agent over the existing PSU player all over the field and his talent decisions across the board were awful - not just awful, but super-expensive, needlessly so expensive as what he brought in was a massive downgrade relative to what he sent packing with his bad decisions (i.e., paid way up, for a talent downgrade).

In today's Professional CFB League with Absolute & Unlimited Free Agency, the #1 determinant of success is efficient use of roster budget (i.e., talent evaluation). Campbell's grade for the efficiency of the $30+ million he spent on the roster (most of it in the Free Agency Market) is a resounding "F" - a complete and total "Fail" across virtually every position on the field. Anybody who thinks this points to anything but poor results in the future is clearly ignorant as to how Professional sports teams are managed and what generates results.

 

[KingLando]

Grunk said publicly he is a loyal person and didn’t portal out until after Campbell brought in his boy Becht and he realized he had two chances to play this year regardless of how he looked in practice: fat and none. There were other QBs in the portal besides Becht regardless.

He was loyal to Franklin--as always his plan

 

[Chumboshifko1]

Exactly, Chesney had no problem bringing in Free Agents who were actually worth the $$$ they were being paid (20 of UCLA's 22 starters are Free Agents). This is true for Stein at Kentucky and Cignetti before both of them.... many other examples. This nonsense about Campbell not paying these worthless Free Agents big $$$ (and in many cases pushed out better Franklin recruited players with his Free Agent transfers) is utterly laughable. Campbell, and nobody else, chose to pay these Free Agents huge money - in many cases recruiting and signing them over vastly better players already on PSU's roster. Campbell's recruiting and "talent evaluation" skills look extremely suspect based on known results this year. His "hit/miss" ratio is 100% in the wrong direction - especially where he had the luxury of existing starters at position after position (QB, LB, DL, etc......). Campbell went with "his guy" Free Agent over the existing PSU player all over the field and his talent decisions across the board were awful - not just awful, but super-expensive, needlessly so expensive as what he brought in was a massive downgrade relative to what he sent packing with his bad decisions (i.e., paid way up, for a talent downgrade).

In today's Professional CFB League with Absolute & Unlimited Free Agency, the #1 determinant of success is efficient use of roster budget (i.e., talent evaluation). Campbell's grade for the efficiency of the $30+ million he spent on the roster (most of it in the Free Agency Market) is a resounding "F" - a complete and total "Fail" across virtually every position on the field. Anybody who thinks this points to anything but poor results in the future is clearly ignorant as to how Professional sports teams are managed and what generates results.

 

[Westcoast24]

🫟

🫘

 

[Moogy]

247 composite

It's their rating as a transfer, not their rating coming out of high school.

I know it's their transfer ranking ... I just think the other list was more accurate, in terms of perceived transfer value. Admittedly, I don't know where my source got their rankings ... could be 247's own rankings (not their composite), or could be some other source (like their behind) ... but I thought it was a more accurate representation of what we were getting/expecting.

Regardless, for as much grief as we gave Knowles while he was here, he really did a number on us when he left. Imagining our defense ... even with Lynn's stupid schemes ... with that talent he took (and add in a couple others that went elsewhere) ... what could have been.
We lost a piece or two on offense (Grunk is OK, but not a world beater ... and Reynolds was a stud, despite the beating he took on this board for his performance last year ... but that was about it) ... but our missing D pieces could have won us a lot of games this year.

 

[KC-KS-Lion]

There's no doubt in my mind that we would have been better off with Grunk/Reynolds than Becht/Brahmer. I can only think of two reasons why Campbell preferred his Iowa State players.

1. 1) He thought they were better than they are.
2. 2) He needed Becht in order to get most of the other 23 to transfer.

I agree with both, and think 2 is quite possible.

I think a possible next step in NIL's evolution would be to have them be parially performance based, not all guaranteed, although I'm not sure if any colleges will have the balls to do this first, especially given the pressure exerted by rich alumni looking to fulfill a bucket list item.

 

[KC-KS-Lion]

I know it's their transfer ranking ... I just think the other list was more accurate, in terms of perceived transfer value. Admittedly, I don't know where my source got their rankings ... could be 247's own rankings (not their composite), or could be some other source (like their behind) ... but I thought it was a more accurate representation of what we were getting/expecting.

Regardless, for as much grief as we gave Knowles while he was here, he really did a number on us when he left. Imagining our defense ... even with Lynn's stupid schemes ... with that talent he took (and add in a couple others that went elsewhere) ... what could have been.
We lost a piece or two on offense (Grunk is OK, but not a world beater ... and Reynolds was a stud, despite the beating he took on this board for his performance last year ... but that was about it) ... but our missing D pieces could have won us a lot of games this year.

Knowles for sure left town with some experienced and rising talent that Penn State could have used, and seemed to make a smooth transition to Tennessee. For whatever reason, he didn't have the same impact on Penn State's defense.

The ISU LB transfers are relatively (luke) warm bodies vs Amari Campbell. The young DL may have been a good shot in the arm for that group. I felt we were relatively loaded at DB last year, and that group may be the deepest on D this year.

Time will tell how well D. Lynn recruits and develops players...he came on board a little late last year.

 

[NEPA Lion]

There's no doubt in my mind that we would have been better off with Grunk/Reynolds than Becht/Brahmer. I can only think of two reasons why Campbell preferred his Iowa State players.

1. 1) He thought they were better than they are.
2. 2) He needed Becht in order to get most of the other 23 to transfer.

That makes a lot of sense on both points.

My observation is Luke is playing a level above last year, he had some drops, and getting
the ball punched out in the open field against UCLA, could have been a game changer.
My second point is Grunk is heavy running now, and being used as Drew, and Cliff were used, in
JF's offense , and that could be a risk problem .

 

[PSUFTG]

I would disagree on the blocking, at least yesterday. He certainly did block. He’s no Rapp but I think the potential is there and his QB failed him most of the year.

Brahmer never blocked anyone in his years at ISU either

That cat ain't going to suddenly change his stripes.

 

[PSUFTG]

Grunk is far MORE athletic than Becht would ever be - in every metric.
Someone - presumably the OC, Mouser - got it into Becht's head that his "feet were a weapon". But that is a silly proposition, based on his years of playing college FB.

 

[KC-KS-Lion]

Grunk is far MORE athletic than Becht would ever be - in every metric.
Someone - presumably the OC, Mouser - got it into Becht's head that his "feet were a weapon". But that is a silly proposition, based on his years of playing college FB.

I am a little surprised by Becht's (lack of) athleticism. I'm not sure how much his running style and behavior in the pocket are affected by recovering from last year's injuries...he seems to be diving down when he runs, not looking for anything beyond 5 yards.

 

[PSUForever]

They would grade the PSU TE now playing at VaTech the highest - Luke Reynolds. Reynolds is probably going to be the first TE taken in the draft. Go figure, both of the Franklin recruited TEs are >>>>> than the the Campbell recruited TE.

Did Purdue win yesterday? Asking for a friend.

 

[Marshall2323]

Did Purdue win yesterday? Asking for a friend.

They've won a total of 10 games......in the last 4 seasons.

 

[Bvillebaron]

He was loyal to Franklin--as always his plan

There you go again telling everyone what other people think and will do. What Powerball numbers should I play this week Nostradamus?

 

[Bvillebaron]

That makes a lot of sense on both points.

My observation is Luke is playing a level above last year, he had some drops, and getting
the ball punched out in the open field against UCLA, could have been a game changer.
My second point is Grunk is heavy running now, and being used as Drew, and Cliff were used, in
JF's offense , and that could be a risk problem .

And running a smaller Becht isn’t? He also is throwing the ball a helluva lot better than Rocco. Perhaps the reason he is playing at a higher level is that younger players can improve.

 

[Bvillebaron]

They've won a total of 10 games......in the last 4 seasons.

You should have suggested to PSUForever to make sure that he mentions that to his friend.

 

[upstatelion]

Patton playing better as the year goes by. Also Buhr is left off your list, he has been a starter at guard all season, although admittedly has not played all that well.