Louisville football: Breaking down the 2023 transfer portal defensive players

Rodney McGraw – Defensive Line – Penn State – 3-Star Transfer

From the last player added into the transfer portal, to the first to join the Cardinals this offseason. Rodney McGraw certainly projects as the biggest project piece added to the roster via the transfer portal.

McGraw was a 4-star recruit coming out of the state of Indiana in high school and chose the Nittany Lions over his hometown Hoosiers, but two years in Pennsylvania saw McGraw mainly on the bench.

He redshirted his freshman season and appeared in five games in his redshirt sophomore season, making just one tackle. But again, early playing time in college is hard to come by, especially at a top school like Penn State.

After two quiet years in University Park, McGraw entered his name into the transfer portal and became the first transfer to choose the Cardinals this offseason. McGraw has played less than 15 snaps in his two years of college, so far, so film is hard to come by, but here are a couple of huge plays he made in high school.

With a lack of playing time at the college level, it’s hard to expect McGraw to make much of an impact in year one at UofL, but that’s ok! McGraw will only be a redshirt sophomore next season, so he’s got plenty of time to gain experience and become a big part of this defense over the next three years.

I imagine we won’t see much of him in year one, but with his INCREDIBLE size (6’6 260 lbs.) he’s got a great chance to make a huge impact on this team in the coming years.

High school recruiting is important, but I’d rather land a formerly highly rated recruit with a couple of years at the college level, like McGraw, over a three or four-star senior in high school that will take years to develop, and possibly never work out. Both are important to land, but this is a great supplement to high school recruiting.

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