2024 Football Portal News

HoKogan said:
Last I checked NIL comes from boosters and other entities that are not affliated with the university directly. I always thought Duke should prod the edges of that and see if Duke Med could be an NIL sponsor, but not sure where the university ends and the health care providing business begins
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Toward that end, there are absolutely some corporate entities that are making large contributions to the NIL efforts of various schools (hey, Tim Cook, how about using some of that Apple cash on Duke athletics -- ha!).

The LDS church is pumping money into BYU athletics as it sees that as a good way of promoting the Mormon faith. It is a fairly safe bet that some of that is coming in the form of NIL payments.
 
JasonEvans said:
1. Mensah rushed for 132 yards on 60 carries last season with 1 TD. The 5 rushes per game suggests that he has some mobility and the threat of him running is part of the game plan. That said, just 2.2 yards per rush, 1TD, and his longest run of the year was just 22 yards suggesting he is not a true "dual threat" QB. I'd say the answer on "mobility" as the NFL needs it is probably a mild yes.
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Don't sacks count for the yardage numbers for college QBs? If so, that has to ding the yards per rush. I'm not saying he's dual threat, just maybe that mobility may be a plus.
 
the schools that are going to succeed in NiL are the ones that can find businesses in the area that can actually see an ROI for paying these players money (think car dealerships, local plaintiffs law firms, etc that might put players in commercials and whatnot).

I think boosters funding NIL over the table directly for the school may run its course over the next few years because (1) there is no real ROI from a $$ perspective and (2) there isn’t the ability to cheat the system anymore through under the table payments.

I won’t send any money to Duke or UT that is going to NIL. Coordinate with the local businesses to manage that so alumni dollars can go to more important things.
 
JasonEvans said:
1. Mensah rushed for 132 yards on 60 carries last season with 1 TD. The 5 rushes per game suggests that he has some mobility and the threat of him running is part of the game plan. That said, just 2.2 yards per rush, 1TD, and his longest run of the year was just 22 yards suggesting he is not a true "dual threat" QB. I'd say the answer on "mobility" as the NFL needs it is probably a mild yes.

2. This is a big question mark for him. Mensah had a hugely impressive yards per pass number of 9.5 but the folks who have scouted him say his short and mid-range balls are far more effective than his deep throws. He's got a good arm -- no way to get a 66% completion rate without the ability to zip it into tight holes -- but does not as yet possess the kind of elite arm strength that NFL scouts really want to see.

3. Mensah is listed at 6-3, 200... that is right at the average size for a NFL QB. It is generally accepted that if you are less than 6-2, you could have issues seeing over the line so guys who are shorter than that need to have some other aspects of their game to make up for the height. That said, there are not that many NFL QBs who stand more than about 6-4. According to this article:



Bottom line is that Mensah has several of the attributes that one might desire in a NFL QB... but is far from being sure-fire prospect. In terms of physical tools, he is at least partly there. It seems grossly obvious to say it, but his pro future will likely be judged based on how he performs next year at Duke against power conference competition.
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Keep in mind that sacks are included in rushing yards for QBs in college (not the case in the NFL). Worth noting that Daniel Jones, who was very mobile, averaged under 3.5 yards per carry all 3 of his years at Duke (due to the sacks). And Caleb Williams (who is very mobile and went #1 overall) averaged just 1.5 yards per carry as a junior in 2023.

The stats on sacks taken are harder to track down, but it looks like Mensah took 17 sacks for 122 yards lost this season*. So his true rushing line was something more like 254 yards on 43 carries. So I think it's reasonable to say he's mobile.

* link here: https://cfbstats.com/2024/leader/national/team/defense/split01/category20/sort01.html

As for items 2 and 3, definitely no idea about #2, but he's a pretty normal size for an NFL QB prospect. Daniels and Maye were both 6'4", while Williams is 6'1". 6'1" to 6'4" is pretty normal, with some guys 6'5"-6'6" (guys like Allen, Herbert, Jones) and some 6'0" or shorter (guys like Kyler Murray and Bryce Young).
 
A-Tex Devil said:
the schools that are going to succeed in NiL are the ones that can find businesses in the area that can actually see an ROI for paying these players money (think car dealerships, local plaintiffs law firms, etc that might put players in commercials and whatnot).

I think boosters funding NIL over the table directly for the school may run its course over the next few years because (1) there is no real ROI from a $$ perspective and (2) there isn’t the ability to cheat the system anymore through under the table payments.

I won’t send any money to Duke or UT that is going to NIL. Coordinate with the local businesses to manage that so alumni dollars can go to more important things.
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Duke is doing exactly that. As was detailed in the last Duke Mag, we have an assistant AD (former Duke football player Terrell Smith) who focuses entirely on NIL and counseling both revenue and non-revenue sport athletes on how to maximize their NIL opportunities and their personal brand. A number of other faculty, athletic department and Administration staff are involved as well. Duke is ahead of the curve on this.
 
wilson said:
I thought that for sure that, one of these days, someone would spell Maalik's name correctly. Now that he's on the way to not being one of ours anymore, though, I think I may have just been dreaming.
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I recently realized that our two transfers with roughly similar names (Maalik and Maliq) have the last names of Murphy and Brown. Like the old TV show, Murphy Brown. So there's my gold star for the day.
 
luvdahops said:
Duke is doing exactly that. As was detailed in the last Duke Mag, we have an assistant AD (former Duke football player Terrell Smith) who focuses entirely on NIL and counseling both revenue and non-revenue sport athletes on how to maximize their NIL opportunities and their personal brand. A number of other faculty, athletic department and Administration staff are involved as well. Duke is ahead of the curve on this.
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That’s great to hear. Alumni collectives like other schools do isn’t sustainable. I think that schools in large metro areas like Duke are going to succeed in the long run here.

This all probably belongs on some general NIL thread but curious if there is any marked difference at DukeStores and similar college shops selling generic #2 jerseys vs ones with “Flagg” on the back?
 
A-Tex Devil said:
That’s great to hear. Alumni collectives like other schools do isn’t sustainable. I think that schools in large metro areas like Duke are going to succeed in the long run here.

This all probably belongs on some general NIL thread but curious if there is any marked difference at DukeStores and similar college shops selling generic #2 jerseys vs ones with “Flagg” on the back?
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I see some potential for cross-revenue-sport synergy here, promoting Flagg football.

I'll see myself out ....
 
budwom said:
you are confusing two different pools of money. Right now NIL money is NOT conference revenue money. I'd say more, but your level of agitation tells me an attempt at a conversation would be pointless.
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Money is fungible - see Nina King and the statement about the swimmers.....
 
blazindw said:
Conference payouts and revenues and NIL collective money are two different things, as schools cannot directly pay NIL to players. Duke could bring in $1B/yr and the NIL budget could remain the same because it's reliant on the collectives at this time to raise the money.
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technically correct, but are you really expecting me or anyone to believe that if we have a 50-90 million dollar short fall versus a typical Big Ten or SEC team....that we're gonna be NIL competitive because it's technically a different pool of money? See how that goes.
 
I'm pretty excited about the news of Darian Mensah transferring to Duke. I don't take for granted the success which Maalik helped us achieve this past season though. He's provided me with some wonderful Duke football memories. I wish him well in his future endeavors (as long as he's not suiting up against the Blue Devils of course.) That said, I can't wait to see what Mr. Mensah is capable of doing on the field against our competition next year. Yes, NIL and the transfers resulting from it are absolutely maddening at times. Although I was pretty disheartened to hear that both Maalik and Grayson are transferring out, I'm elated that Darian has cast his lot with Duke football (for the foreseeable future at least.) Welcome to the Bull City and Duke, Darian!

Regarding PackMan97's comment, "You need more home games against teams that travel well" - you got any team(s) in mind?😁
 
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Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State just had his contract "reworked", with him getting a pay cut while that money goes to the NIL coffers. The two pots of money aren't that separate
 
ecs15 said:
Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State just had his contract "reworked", with him getting a pay cut while that money goes to the NIL coffers. The two pots of money aren't that separate
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Part of his salary must be subsidized by boosters or 3rd parties, without having the details it would be hard to speculate where the money thats being re-allocated is actually coming from
 
HereBeforeCoachK said:
technically correct, but are you really expecting me or anyone to believe that if we have a 50-90 million dollar short fall versus a typical Big Ten or SEC team....that we're gonna be NIL competitive because it's technically a different pool of money? See how that goes.
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Yes, big payouts don't necessarily mean big NIL commitments. See: Michigan 2021-2024. They were losing recruits and roster players in both football and basketball to schools willing to pay out more NIL bucks. They looked to their boosters and got more money, which is how they were able to flip Bryce Underwood, the #1 football recruit in the country.

On the flip side, how do we think SMU got good quickly? They aren't getting any conference payouts from the ACC, but their NIL budget shot through the roof. It's two pots, and there doesn't have to be any correlation between them.
 
blazindw said:
Yes, big payouts don't necessarily mean big NIL commitments. See: Michigan 2021-2024. They were losing recruits and roster players in both football and basketball to schools willing to pay out more NIL bucks. They looked to Dave Portnoy and got more money, which is how they were able to flip Bryce Underwood, the #1 football recruit in the country.

On the flip side, how do we think SMU got good quickly? They aren't getting any conference payouts from the ACC, but their NIL budget shot through the roof. It's two pots, and there doesn't have to be any correlation between them.
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FIFY
 
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