Why don't tranfers work for us?

[BullrunLion]

Last year we had two offensive linemen transfer in. Supposedly our OL was one of the worst in the country giving up 40 something sacks. So we bring in the number one rated JUCO linemen, and a graduate transfer from Stanford, and we all know that Stanford has an OL that is way better than ours. Yet, the transfer sees almost no playing time and the JUCO is viewed by many as a flop and not ready to play. I thought the point of JUCOs and graduate transfers was to quickly upgrade your team. Instead, it seems when PSU does it, those players aren't good!

So why is it that when other teams bring in JUCOs (Kansas St. does it all the time) and transfers the players make an immediate contribution and help the team. But when PSU does it, it seems to have very little impact. Is it just bad luck, bad recruiting, or is it bad coaching once they get here? I don't know the answer, but I am sure disappointed that the one or two transfers that we have brought in have not seemed to help very much.

 

[NittanyOpp]

Paris Palmer was decent, has the chance to be a lot better next year if he adds weight and gets coached better technique...Not a fan of the Juco route personally, i believe Joe was against it for at least many years. Lately it seems like its been to patch holes or build depth for us.

But we came close with Jake Waters who went to K-St and was decent, though he would not have started above Hack.

Also, a team like K St gets 2 and 3 star recruits so the JuCO guys have a better chance of playing there.

 

[BullrunLion]

Paris Palmer was decent, has the chance to be a lot better next year if he adds weight and gets coached better technique...Not a fan of the Juco route personally, i believe Joe was against it for at least many years. Lately it seems like its been to patch holes or build depth for us.

But we came close with Jake Waters who went to K-St and was decent, though he would not have started above Hack.

Also, a team like K St gets 2 and 3 star recruits so the JuCO guys have a better chance of playing there.

I agree that I don't like the JUCO route, but my issue is that other schools get JUCOs and the are plugged right in and excel. We take the top ranked Olineman last year from the JUCO ranks, and he is average at best. Just not sure why it works for others and not for us? I don't want to go that route, but if we have a need like OL, then I would hope that we could get one guy to plug in and do a good job. Last year it seems Paris was less than good, sometimes downright bad.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

We have had them in the past and like every program some work out some don't. Your premise is simply ignoring fact.

The Stanford grad was just an hour insurance policy...he rarely played at Stanford. Palmer needs some help... in the weight room ...with technique and with who is playing beside him. He may pan out.

 

[NittanyLionRoar]

Quite frankly, Palmer did about as well as anyone can expect from a JUCO transfer. He stepped right into the most demanding position on the offensive line...and perhaps the entire offense next to the QB...and he was serviceable. He filled a need this year that no one else on the team could fill. It wasn't perfect, but he's clearly talented, committed, and has a great frame. With another offseason to build some muscle and learn technique, I think he will be a good senior tackle.

 

[Chris92]

Paris is going to be much better in pass protection next season. He got beat quite a bit with the DEs taking an inside rush and losing contain. Next season if the DE takes that "gamble," Mcsorley or Stevens will simply run and take the 10 yards down the left sideline.

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

The grad transfer redshirted under Harbaugh and never got on the field under Shaw. He's not a PAC-12 or B1G player. Instead he's a Stanford graduate and a free year of grad school.

WINNING!

He didn't cost us anything, didn't squeeze out an alternative scholarship player, and at least we had enough OL to hold a decent practice with.

I'd say it worked great!

 

[BlueBand]

You're looking at a small sample size, so just because they didn't make an immediate impact doesn't mean transfers don't always work here. That's number 1.

Number 2, OLine is, as we've heard over and over, difficult to just plug and play. Aside from technique and schemes, there's a lot of chemistry involved. That's why they talk about a young o line needing time to "gel" early in the season. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Can a young or new player come in and play well? Of course, but it's more the exception.

Number 3, as has been stated above, some of Paris' problems were not his fault, but due to weaknesses elsewhere on the offense that defenses exploited.

 

[b&w1987]

Palmer got beat bad many, many times. He was below average if you ask me as a right tackle. The blindside tackle is what keeps your QB alive. Could not handle any of the good DE's. I wonder what Hackenberg thought of him?

That being said ... the transfers out mean scholarships for potentially much better players around here.

 

[sluggo72]

there is a reason they are transfers.

 

[BlueBand]

Palmer got beat bad many, many times. He was below average if you ask me as a right tackle. The blindside tackle is what keeps your QB alive. Could not handle any of the good DE's. I wonder what Hackenberg thought of him?

That being said ... the transfers out mean scholarships for potentially much better players around here.

He did, but he got better as the season went on. The scary part is he was our best option. But like has been stated, if Hack had been more mobile, defenses wouldn't have been attacking as often, and the blown assignment wouldn't have always had such consequences.

 

[Cletus11]

Palmer was disappointing, it happens. The kid from Stanford left Stanford because he wasn't going to play there. Be like LSU complaining that Bolden didn't start for them at QB when he transferred there. PSU had a couple of offensive tackles from JUCO in Nerraw McCormack and Ako Poti who both ended up playing some on the Oline and performed OK.

 

[AWS1022]

Last year we had two offensive linemen transfer in. Supposedly our OL was one of the worst in the country giving up 40 something sacks. So we bring in the number one rated JUCO linemen, and a graduate transfer from Stanford, and we all know that Stanford has an OL that is way better than ours. Yet, the transfer sees almost no playing time and the JUCO is viewed by many as a flop and not ready to play. I thought the point of JUCOs and graduate transfers was to quickly upgrade your team. Instead, it seems when PSU does it, those players aren't good!

So why is it that when other teams bring in JUCOs (Kansas St. does it all the time) and transfers the players make an immediate contribution and help the team. But when PSU does it, it seems to have very little impact. Is it just bad luck, bad recruiting, or is it bad coaching once they get here? I don't know the answer, but I am sure disappointed that the one or two transfers that we have brought in have not seemed to help very much.

I think it's a numbers game. Only a certain percentage work out for any team and since we bring in a lower number than a lot of other schools, we have fewer that pan out. K State brings in a lot so they naturally have more that work out, but they also have more that don't...we just don't hear about those because we don't follow the team.

 

[dawgduice]

JC guys can be OK. the last two we signed have been just that. We may bring in a couple this year - secondary and DL. It's a bodies and numbers game, not a star game.