Here are the recruit rankings of the Indiana starters. For transfers, I used the transfer ranking if available. The ranking includes number of stars, then grade, followed by (position rank).

WR Sarratt SR/TR - 4* 90 (32)
WR Williams SR/TR - 4* 95 (13)
WR Cooper JR - 3* 88 (80)
LT Smith JR - 4* 93 (19)
LG Evans JR/TR - 2* 76 (225)
C Coogan SR/TR - 4* 91 (9)
RG Lynch JR - 3* 87 (65)
RT Adedamola RS FR - 3* 87 (68)
TE Nowakowsk SR/TR - 3* 85 (54)
QB Mendoza JR/TR - 4* 93 (4)
RB Hemby SR/TR - 3* 89 (15)

DE Kamara SR/TR - 3* 85 (99)
NT Tucker JR/TR - 3* 86 (94)
DT Landino SO - 3* 80 (265)
EDGE Ndukwe SO - 3* 85 (118)
WLB Hardy SO - unranked
MLB Fisher SR/TR - 3* 86 (64)
LCB Sharpe JR - 3* 86 (75)
SS Moore SR/TR - 3* 85 (93)
FS Ferrell JR - 3* 88 (58)
RCB Ponds JR/TR - 3* 87 (84)
NB Boykin SR/TR - 3* 85 (100)

Over 80% of the starters are upperclassmen which is notable, but zero 5*, five 4*, fifteen 3*, one 2*, and one unranked. Cignetti is sorcerer; not even Saban could pull this off.

Now can you do the aggies? And do the strength of schedules?

The internet told me the average age is 23.5 years old. Wow seems high

perhaps means the recruiting website talking heads don't know nearly as much as they pretend to. cig actually knows his stuff.

Their Oline reminds me of our '20 line. Not the highest rated, yet athletic and get to the second level.

I wonder how many of their starters came from JMU

Indiana is ahead of the curve with how teams are going to attack the portal and NIL.

Do you want the highly rated superstar teenager that has been whooping up on their peers in a 3A high school or the 25-year-old grown man who has a track record of success in college already?

texag713 said:

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perhaps means the recruiting website talking heads don't know nearly as much as they pretend to.

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This is news?

How many of them / podcasters actually played football?

Zachary Klement said:

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Indiana is ahead of the curve with how teams are going to attack the portal and NIL.

Do you want the highly rated superstar teenager that has been whooping up on their peers in a 3A high school or the 25-year-old grown man who has a track record of success in college already?

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And yet, many on here want to chunk players for the next hot Freshman instead of allowing them to develop into good players. I think a good mix of portal and newbies is the key to success.

Zachary Klement said:

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Indiana is ahead of the curve with how teams are going to attack the portal and NIL.

Do you want the highly rated superstar teenager that has been whooping up on their peers in a 3A high school or the 25-year-old grown man who has a track record of success in college already?

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Definitely allows the chance to see how well (or not) they acclimated to the college game, and whether their work ethic is something you can really maximize.
Those that really had to fight to get here vs those who coasted in, feeling entitled.
Plus a lot of those older, less hyped guys are still gonna play with a huge chip on their shoulder too.
Particularly the big uglies in the trenches, both sides.

It definitely shows that using the portal and NIL to get older, more experienced and talented players is the key.

Example: TCUs deep run a few years ago came off of COVID eligibility gifting them a team of mostly 3 stars that still was way older and more experienced than most others allowing them to overcome the lack of 4-5 star talent for the most part (until they ran into UGAs defense and we know how B12 Os do when they're into fast, talented defenses)

We should be aiming for what Indiana is doing: don't blow your money chasing a bunch of younger 5 stars. Use it to make sure your team is mostly experienced 22-23 year olds in the 3.5-4 star range and you've got a championship level team

Wait I was told the portal would ruin CFB.

Turns out that a team with an average age of 23 years old, with more maturity, more developed physically, and four years of college football experience is better than a bunch 18-20 year old 4-5*s.

AgDotCom said:

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texag713 said:

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perhaps means the recruiting website talking heads don't know nearly as much as they pretend to.

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This is news?

How many of them / podcasters actually played football?

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i was being polite. anyway, its clear in this new portal era that colleges need to double down on building competent front offices like the pros, in order to evaluate all the hidden talent out there.

rootube said:

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Wait I was told the portal would ruin CFB.

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NIL and Portal could be just fine, if it were managed.
But with both of em having almost zero guardrails, yeah, it's absolutely ruined college football.

rootube said:

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Wait I was told the portal would ruin CFB.

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It arguably has in other ways. There's zero loyalty to the school, coach, and team among the majority of the players. You used to be able to follow players on a team for a few years, and know the names of the players. Now the teams are rinsed and stocked with mostly new portal players every year.

Indiana will suck next year. Just watch. Most of their seniors will be out.

2004FIGHTINTXAG said:

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rootube said:

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Wait I was told the portal would ruin CFB.

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It arguably has in other ways. There's zero loyalty to the school, coach, and team among the majority of the players. You used to be able to follow players on a team for a few years, and know the names of the players. Now the teams are rinsed and stocked with mostly new portal players every year.

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https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS0yIlbFf9F/?igsh=MnYyZXVjb21jNWtz

2004FIGHTINTXAG said:

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rootube said:

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Wait I was told the portal would ruin CFB.

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It arguably has in other ways. There's zero loyalty to the school, coach, and team among the majority of the players. You used to be able to follow players on a team for a few years, and know the names of the players. Now the teams are rinsed and stocked with mostly new portal players every year.

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Wonder what would have happened to Fernando Mendoza pre portal. He stays at cal, no titles, no heisman, probably much more limited NFL potential.

The portal is the future bring in the best upperclassman every year.

Tex117 said:

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ls1aggie09 said:

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Now can you do the aggies? And do the strength of schedules?

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we can talk about SOS during the regular season and lack thereof being able to better regulate when a team "peaks". But to say Indiana right now, today, isn't a great football team, you are blind

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Never said Indiana isn't great. Saying maybe if they played a legit regular season schedule, might have dropped a couple and not be where they are today. Kinda like Miami and Tech…had to show up to the playoffs but regular season was weak. Regular season grind can have an effect on depth of roster and the post season.

Legitimately curious as to how the ags stack up in all of these metrics

Quote:

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Now can you do the aggies? And do the strength of schedules?

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Cope harder.

Zachary Klement said:

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Indiana is ahead of the curve with how teams are going to attack the portal and NIL.

Do you want the highly rated superstar teenager that has been whooping up on their peers in a 3A high school or the 25-year-old grown man who has a track record of success in college already?

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But this can't be repeated. Indiana is made up of a lot of covid super seniors. Those won't exist anymore.

infinity ag said:

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Indiana will suck next year. Just watch. Most of their seniors will be out.

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They won't suck. They have the number one portal class now. But they will take a step back without Mendoza.

60% of the starters are transfers, which is above average for most teams (45%) but not that far off.

It's an old team but there are other teams that are also old.

Transfers, age, and sheer coaching ability are factors to Cignetti's success no doubt but I think a bigger factor is Cignetti and his staff are able to evaluate talent and attitude better than other coaches.

infinity ag said:

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Indiana will suck next year. Just watch. Most of their seniors will be out.

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Will be interesting to see where they land in the "way too early top 25 for 2026" that will be released on 1/20/26. Can't be #1, bc we know that will be bestowed on the group in Austin, but with all they are losing, they might not be top 15