59 fresh faces on the team

They brought in "only" 19 portal players, but this year, I think they actually selected more wisely.

Their class of 2026 high school recruits had 40 players in it.

Their defense was actually decent last year. The results are negatively skewed, since their offense was terrible, and couldn't sustain drives, never giving the defense a chance to rest.

There were two games, maybe a third, that were easily winnable if they could have simply put together some sort of sustainable drive on offense, but they didn't.

I don't see this year being much different, except maybe the offense gets a bit better (can't really go anywhere but up...).

Just a quick summary:

They're getting some good use out of the portal guys, that Billy Edwards is their starting QB, and the second stringer is also a transfer. Edwards had a decent year as a starter at Maryland back in 2024.

A couple of the portal WR's are getting significant playing time.

Jelani Thurman (TE) is their best receiving threat, even though he started the year as a 3rd stringer.

Their starting right guard is from the portal.

A couple of guys on their front seven for the starting defense are portal players.