2026 ND Portal Targets

[IrishInOntario]

Also worth noting the only quality player we lost to the portal was Burnham who left bc he wanted to start.

The money is going somewhere, and it’s clearly being spent on roster retention.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with spending money in roster retention. It SHOULD be where you spend the bulk of your funds if you want a stable, competitive, program... You don't return 5 linebackers of the quality ND has, without paying them. At least 4 of them will be NFL'ers. Traore costs money. Young costs money. Carr costs money. Williams costs money. Shuler costs money. Moore costs money. Gray costs money. Johnson costs money. The entire OL costs money... And they should. ND has a lot of future NFL'ers on their roster right now, that other teams would gladly poach if ND didn't pay them.

But you also have to ensure that you have enough NIL money, even if you're tapped out of Rev Share, to ensure that you can make an impact in the Portal market. It's becoming an increasingly important and viable compliment to recruiting, similar to professional free agency... Maybe ND has set that money aside and will use it well over the coming days and add some great pieces. We'll have to wait and see.

 

[irishff1014]

Freeman at ISD confirmed Mateen Ibirogbais not coming.

 

[WildMan1]

This is kind of what I was referencing earlier. ND is going to look around and say at the Portal landscape and see how much guys will cost. If the guy they want costs X, but there is another guy that will give them 80% of the production, for 50% of the cost, they'll take the lesser of two players.

It's just the way ND seems to do things. They would seemingly rather be competitive and consistently get richer, then take the risk of going for broke and having it not work out. They DO NOT like getting into bidding wars either. I genuinely just think they don't believe in doing it.

I'll be curious if they draw a line in the sand for a couple guys here and pay what they have to to ensure they have adequate talent at all of their starting positions, or if they'll simply try to backdoor "moneyball" their way into underrated Portal hits.

I think that works for most situations but this DL depth is a season wrecker.. Gilliam becomes an absolute must have.

Would like to have seen some interest from Thompkins or Etta but doesn’t seem so.. The list isn’t that long or impressive outside of those guys.

VanSumeren rumors swirling around Oklahoma.

I think the most depressing thing here is being relentlessly outbid after believing ND could swing a big money stick.

 

[WildMan1]

I can't say I disagree with you, especially since I know for sure alumni donors would be more than happy to dump as much money as possible if it meant being the highest bidder in the transfer portal.

This is what confuses me.. Tech or Indiana just seem to let their donors free ball it at these kids..

Why is ND operating under this budget? Especially for a position in such dire need of help.

 

[IrishInOntario]

This is just truly bizarre. Why not just try to be the highest bidder?

Because in a lot of cases you're bidding against people that have the kind of "play money" that you're not going to beat them. And if you do, you will have sooooo overpaid for a player that it will break your roster elsewhere. The oil tycoon, Cody Campbell, Texas Tech's "money guy" is worth something like $6 Billion. Funding Texas Tech football has become his hobby. He's willing to put tens of millions into the NIL fund each year. That's ONE donor. No doubt He's got some rich friends and almuni doing the same / similar. That guy just paid $5 million for a decent, but unspectacular QB. He's reportedly making $2-$3 million offers for the best portal DL... You literally cannot outspend him and pay a price that isn't a complete waste of your money.

What Indiana is doing is different. They're targeting a bunch of guys (Nick Marsh aside) that are the 3rd/4th options for many programs, but they're getting a large quantity of them locked up early because they're willing to offer "starter" money now, while other programs compete for the top guys. They're doing that because they have to replace 16 starters next year and they know they can't afford to screw around and hope to get a bunch of the very top guys. Cignetti bets on himself that he and his staff can take the 3rd/4th guy on another team's board and coach him up to be better than the higher priced, higher rated guy that the other teams fought over.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Takes one to know one King

Thats why I luv ya. Cheers man 🥃

 

[WildMan1]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tech go after Gilliam at this point as a spite move just to screw us 😂

The hate for ND has goin parabolic this year..

 

[BoredIrish]

Spending on player retention is great, but if ND doesn't land 2 starting DT's it's not going to matter who else they retained.

2 DT's = 2 wins above replacement over the current roster.... And we all knows what happens at 10-2.

 

[PolishDomer]

Frankly none of these WRs are good enough. Malachi Fields is better than all of these portal guys and even he was just fine. Our WR recruiting hasn't been good enough for a while. Who is our last receiver that would have sniffed the field at OSU/Alabama/USC?

Tim Brown

 

[PolishDomer]

So, semi off topic, is bed wetting officially sanctioned at this point?

Only if you have a mattress protector

 

[Blazers46]

Spending on player retention is great, but if ND doesn't land 2 starting DT's it's not going to matter who else they retained.

2 DT's = 2 wins above replacement over the current roster.... And we all knows what happens at 10-2.

Maybe even makes retention harder, the portal window is still open. If the players don’t see a light at the end of this tunnel why would they stay?

 

[IrishInOntario]

I think that works for most situations but this DL depth is a season wrecker.. Gilliam becomes an absolute must have.

Would like to have seen some interest from Thompkins or Etta but doesn’t seem so.. The list isn’t that long or impressive outside of those guys.

VanSumeren rumors swirling around Oklahoma.

I think the most depressing thing here is being relentlessly outbid after believing ND could swing a big money stick.

I think that sometimes you can fall victim to your own success. ND was able to grind a couple gems last year in the Portal, that weren't highly ranked or highly coveted and they got serviceable snaps out of those guys. Devonta Smith wasn't highly valued by other teams. Will Pauling wasn't highly valued by other teams. Ty Washington wasn't highly valued by other teams. Jared Dawson wasn't highly valued by other teams. Elijah Hughes wasn't highly valued by other teams... It was really only Jalen Stroman and Malachi Fields that had much Portal value and ND managed to lock them up, where this year they tried the same thing with Nick Marsh and Jontez Williams, but whiffed.

I think ND is playing a dangerous game in that they look at the group of underrated guys and misfits they toom last year thag played decently well for them this year and they likely think thry can get away with same thing. Some years I think your evaluations will be correct and you'll get away with that. Other years I think you'll look silly... That's free agency when you take the "moneyball" approach.

 

[NDMatt91]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tech go after Gilliam at this point as a spite move just to screw us 😂

The hate for ND has goin parabolic this year..

Brice said Tennessee is a school to keep an eye on for Gilliam. My guess is he winds up there.

 

[choo choo]

The QB from Mercer seems like a luxury to me

Depends on the price. What are the other qb's making? I don't know. Asking.

 

[MacIrish75]

One thing about the Portal period is that it doesn't lack for agent driven drama! No different then the Bo, Tucker, Bregman + Japanese trio in MLB free agency right now.

Kind of fun to be honest! I really enjoy roster construction and seeing what choices the staff makes!

When the White Sox are outworking ND in the portal, we are in some serious shit.

 

[IrishInOntario]

I'm not kidding when I say that if I'm Marcus Freeman I give up $300,000 of my own salary this year and personally buy a kicker. I don't care where from, or if he's ever kicked... At least at defensive tackle you have a couple bodies to throw out there. ND literally does not have a kicker that can make extra points right now.

That has to remain the #1 priority above all else.

I know I sound sarcastic (and I am), but I'm also deadly serious lol.

 

[FWIrish4]

Do we not have any existing relationships with these “agents” that can get these visits to happen?

Or are there too many “agents” in CFB that this is a total free for all?

 

[IrishInOntario]

When the White Sox are outworking ND in the portal, we are in some serious shit.

Even my Jays dipped into Japan! Hell, Ed Rogers has near unlimited money, can we get that guy an honorary ND degree, put his name on a building and ask him for $50 million in NIL cash? I'm sure he has it tucked away under his pillow.

 

[irishff1014]

Utah's John Henry Daley provides clarity on his injury return timeline

It'll be a while before Utah defensive end John Henry Daley is back on the field again. There appears to be, however, a misconception surrounding how long Daley

www.si.com

And at present this might be our best DL that we can acquire.

 

[MacIrish75]

Utah's John Henry Daley provides clarity on his injury return timeline

It'll be a while before Utah defensive end John Henry Daley is back on the field again. There appears to be, however, a misconception surrounding how long Daley

www.si.com

And at present this might be our best DL that we can acquire.

Well if we can’t get him, maybe we can get John Daly instead. He fits the profile.

 

[NDWarrior]

If ND is going to go the get a player like a DT at 50% of the going rate for about 75-80% of the production of the top player, then please do something, even if that is shifting to lower P4 and D2 schools. Just get some help/bodies in there.

 

[Ndaccountant]

 

[IrishInOntario]

Utah's John Henry Daley provides clarity on his injury return timeline

It'll be a while before Utah defensive end John Henry Daley is back on the field again. There appears to be, however, a misconception surrounding how long Daley

www.si.com

And at present this might be our best DL that we can acquire.

Heck of a player. He has no achilles, but Portnoy and company might just buy him for Michigan to keep him away from ND. The same is true if the Crumbl cookie people out at BYU lol.

 

[RipWheeler]

Well if we can’t get him, maybe we can get John Daly instead. He fits the profile.

 

[IrishInOntario]

If ND is going to go the get a player like a DT at 50% of the going rate for about 75-80% of the production of the top player, then please do something, even if that is shifting to lower P4 and D2 schools. Just get some help/bodies in there.

Guys like that won't sign quickly. They're what I call "microwave goods". They sit in the portal for a while, with the birds pecking away at them... Just before they rot and their valuation is virtually nothing, ND rolls in, throws the microwave on power level high and blasts some life into those leftovers.

Delicious.... Sort of.

 

[NDMatt91]

Utah's John Henry Daley provides clarity on his injury return timeline

It'll be a while before Utah defensive end John Henry Daley is back on the field again. There appears to be, however, a misconception surrounding how long Daley

www.si.com

And at present this might be our best DL that we can acquire.

Bryce's replacement for when he moves to DT?

 

[The Backer]

Utah's John Henry Daley provides clarity on his injury return timeline

It'll be a while before Utah defensive end John Henry Daley is back on the field again. There appears to be, however, a misconception surrounding how long Daley

www.si.com

And at present this might be our best DL that we can acquire.

He’s probably the best DL in the portal. Maybe the #1 overall player

 

[choo choo]

Brice said Tennessee is a school to keep an eye on for Gilliam. My guess is he winds up there.

They have money and they NEED to throw it around. Need to hire a d staff though

 

[Kingbish01]

This revenge tour/scorched earth is going exactly how I'd expect after being an ND fan for 40 years. Miss the playoffs, lose some of your best players, whiff in the portal and head into the following season with a shittier team....

CLASSIC ND

 

[IrishInOntario]

He’s probably the best DL in the portal. Maybe the #1 overall player

Certainly among the only 1 legged players.