Alabama Football: Only one direction in Portal activity truly matters

Activity in the current Transfer Portal cycle has slowed for Alabama Football. Until May, there can be no more additions to the Portal inventory of players. Except for graduate transfers who can join new programs at any time.

The majority of national chatter in each Portal cycle centers around how many players exit top Power Five teams. When Alabama Football loses a player to the Portal, what follows is another iteration of a ‘Crimson Tide is falling apart’ theme, with players purportedly sprinting away from a sinking ship. That theme could not be more wrong.

While top programs lose players, who are key to the team’s future, it does not happen in large numbers. Mostly, the top college football programs, and especially Alabama Football, improve rosters, shedding less than key talent. It is the kind of math where losing 15 and adding five can be a net gain.

So far in the current Transfer Portal cycle, Alabama has lost 12 scholarship players. Realistically, at most, three or four of them would have had a chance to start on the 2023 team. The only major loss to transfer attrition is wide receiver, Aaron Anderson. Anderson was a big pickup for LSU.

The best response to a tweet like the one below is to give it mildly, passing interest – or just ignore it.

Alabama Football fans can make Jimbo jokes

Alabama football fans can chuckle at an apparent continuing meltdown of Jimbo Fishers’s program. But what matters is what A&M gains, rather than its losses. Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss, along with Brian Kelly and LSU, proved that point in last year’s transfer cycle. Kiffin and Pete Golding gained another key addition on Friday, adding Louisville linebacker, Monty Montgomery.

Ten of LSU’s 11 Transfer Portal additions are from Power Five teams. For Ole Miss, the number is seven. Josh Heupel and Tennessee are also at seven. Certainly, in the case of Kiffin and Kelly, they are improving their teams.

Consider another example of how much the quality of roster additions matters, instead of the quantity. Last season, Nick Saban went after Pitt wide receiver, Jordan Addison. Addison chose USC instead. Addison did not match his, Pitt, Biletnikoff Award-winning numbers while playing for the Trojans. He did catch 59 passes for 875 yards and eight touchdowns. What if, in last season’s Portal, Alabama Football had added Addison, rather than Tyler Harrell? Addison catching passes from Bryce Young would likely have made the Crimson Tide a Playoff team.

Don’t be misled by the quantity of transfer exits from top teams. And don’t get overly concerned about the quality of the players lost, as long as incoming players provide a more quality roster.