It’s a yearly ritual at this point. The transfer portal has taken its pound of flesh and Utah State, like all teams, must now figure out what damage was done if anything is to be figured out come spring ball.
How much production from the 2024 Aggies was lost to the portal or to graduation? That’s the question to be answered here, with the goal of looking forward to who may end up being the ones to fill in all of the holes left behind.
Offensive Snaps/Production Lost
- Snaps Played — 84.5%
- Pass Yards — 72.8%
- Rush Yards — 71.5%
- Receiving Yards — 87.3%
- Scrimmage TDs — 76.0%
A lot of the losses here were expected. Six of the more productive players on offense, including Spencer Petras and offensive linemen Wyatt Bowles, Falepule Alo and Cole Motes, are graduating. Jalen Royals was also very much expected to declare for the NFL Draft. But the lion’s share of what would have been key returners have now decided to leave. Rahsul Faison, Teague Andersen, Aloali’i Maui, Grant Page, Otto Tia, Will Monney, Robert Briggs, the list is pretty extensive and brutal. By the end of it all you’re looking at zero, literally zero, expected returning starters from 2024 and only a handful of contributors.
So who are the top returners? A trio of backups in quarterback Bryson Barnes, wide receiver Jack Hestera and interior offensive lineman George Maile. All at least consistently saw the field, but none were high-level contributors outside of perhaps a couple of games (Barnes and Hestera did have a couple star-level performances during the season, but only one or two apiece).
It’s a massive job for Mendenhall and his staff to build an offense almost literally from scratch. Mendenhall got a massive boost to his first and only year in New Mexico by having Devon Dampier
Defensive Snaps/Production Lost
- Snaps Played — 62.4%
- Tackles — 63.9%
- Tackles for Loss — 58.0%
- Sacks — 51.8%
- Forced Fumbles/Interceptions — 80.0%
The damage done to Utah State’s defense is less extensive, but still pretty notable. Unlike the offense, most of the departures were from the transfer portal. A number of starters like Avante Dickerson, Blaine Spires, Davon Graham and JD Drew have all left. Guys who were starters later in the season due to injury — Cian Slone, Gabe Peterson, Marlin Dean, Torren Union — have also left. It’s pretty barren, but again not quite as bad as the offense.
Key returners include Ike Larsen and Gabriel Iniguez, and both of these guys are going to have to play massive roles in the new defense. Not only are they some of the few that will have a connection to Cache Valley and playing on Merlin Olsen Field, but they’re also going to be two of the best players on that defense — Iniguez earning Honorable Mention All-MW this last year and Larsen being a former First Team All-MW recipient. Mendenhall will need playmakers and veterans for his defense, and he’ll have at minimum two of them coming back for this team in 2025.
