The recent news of Kody Epps’ departure from the BYU Football team has had many BYU fans in shock. While many theories are being thrown around, no one can be sure as to why the wide receiver would leave a seemingly good spot with a team that took a chance on him straight out of high school. The same feelings were felt by the fanbase with other players that decided to hit the portal earlier on in the process. Players like Campbell & Clark Barrington, Logan Fano, and Keenan Pili. The question is, has BYU brought in enough players to have won, or lost during the transfer portal window this offseason?
It’s no secret that BYU has lost a lot of talent to the portal this offseason. Here is a list of the top players, where they ended up, and their ratings according to 24/7 Sports as transfer portal products:
Players That Have Transferred Out of BYU – 21
Logan Fano, Utah – 4 Star
Keenan Pili, Tennesee – 4 Star
Clark Barrington, Baylor – 4 Star
Gabe Juedy Lally, Tennesee – 4 Star
Kody Epps, Undecided – 3 Star
Vai Soifua, Undecided – 3 Star
Brooks Maile, Undecided – 3 Star
Zoom Esplin, Undecided – 3 Star
George Udo, Undecided – 3 Star
Logan Pili, Undecided – 3 Star
Dean Jones, Undecided – 3 Star
Isaiah Perez, Eastern Washington – 3 Star
Korbyn Green, Hutchinson CC – 3 Star
Talin Togiai, Idaho State – 3 Star
Tate Romney, ASU – 3 Star
Jacob Conover, ASU – 3 Star
Dallin Holker, Colorado State – 3 Star
Campbell Barrington, Baylor – 3 Star
Terence Fall, NAU – 3 Star
Mac Aloisio, Undecided – No Rating
Nathaniel Gillis, Northern Colorado – No Rating
Attrition is to be expected with a big coaching change on the defensive side of the ball, but as you read through this list you see that there are a lot of offensive guys that have decided to leave BYU as well. Now, let’s take a look at who BYU has brought into the program via the portal. *Note this leaves out Jake Retzlaff and a few other JUCO enrollees as they are not transfer portal products but JUCO products.
Players That Have Transferred Into BYU – 14
Aidan Robbins, UNLV – 4 Star
Eddie Heckard, Weber State – 4 Star
Kedon Slovis, Pitt – 3 Star
Caleb Etienne, Ok State – 3 Star
AJ Vongphachanh, Utah State – 3 Star
Dylan Flowers, SUU – 3 Star
Paul Maile, Utah – 3 Star
Ian Fitzgerald, Missouri State – 3 Star
Weylin Laupuaho, Utah State – 3 Star
Wyatt Dawe, SUU – 3 Star
Jackson Cravens, Boise State – 3 Star
Isaiah Bagnah, Bosie State – 3 Star
Will Ferrin, Boise State – No Rating
Jake Eichorn, Weber State – No Rating
BYU has done well to add veteran experienced pieces to the team this offseason. This group of transfers ranks 20th in the nation according to 24/7 Sports Transfer Rankings. Kalani Sitake and his staff have done an outstanding job at bringing in talent to compete in year one of Big 12 Conference play.
Verdict – Winners or Losers?
Losers.
While BYU has done a great job at bringing in talent via the portal this offseason they are currently slight losers at this point. They still have time to add more to the roster via the portal and they will. But, at this moment, just looking at the numbers BYU has lost more than they have been able to bring in. The Cougs lost four 4-Star and fifteen 3-Star players. On the flip side, they have only brought in two 4-Star players and 10 3-Star players to this point. Even if you add in the three JUCO products in Jake Retzlaff, Jayden Dunlap, and David Latu that only takes the total up to thirteen 3-Stars as each one of them are rated as 3-Star talent.
We should admit there are flaws to the star rating system, especially when it comes to BYU athletes. But looking at it objectively from a 10,000 ft view, BYU still has work to do on the recruiting trail to build depth at every position if they are going to compete at a P5 level moving forward.
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