It has already been a wild ride in this new transfer portal era of college football. The portal officially opens on December 4th, but many players across the country have already announced that they will be entering.
We are truly in a new age of college football where you have to embrace NIL and Free Agency if you want to succeed, especially at the elite level.
At the moment, the number one defensive lineman in the transfer portal is Penn DL Joey Slackman. He just announced that he received an offer to play for the USC Trojans.
Slackman has already had a number of offers including Michigan and South Carolina, and he is sure to receive plenty more next week. But it’s good to see that USC is being aggressive early to bolster their defensive line that needs some stand-out players heading into 2024.
This also tells two stories in terms of the still vacant USC Defensive Coordinator position. Either this is a good sign to a prospective DC that the program is willing to do what it takes to make an effort to get him the players he needs, or SC has their DC all but officially signed and is just keeping it very close to the vest. Time will tell if the latter is true in a matter of days.
In terms of Joey Slackman, the 6′, 300-pound Senior recorded 48 total tackles and 4 sacks last season for the Quakers. It would be quite the jump going from the Ivy League to the BIG10, but Slackman certainly has the size and athleticism to do it.
The Transfer Portal moves quick so we will see if the USC Trojans offer is enticing enough for Joey Slackman to become a Trojan.