3 positions JSU needs to bolster in transfer portal
Jackson State football has put the finishing touches on its spring practices. The transfer portal is open April 16 through April 30, and the Tigers should use it to continue to build their 2024 team.
Here are three positions that need to be recruited:
Quarterback
On the spring roster: JaCobian Morgan, Zy McDonald, Ethan Terrell.
The offense will go as Morgan goes. In the six games in which he played last season, he had good statistics. He was 83-of-123 for 842 yards with 10 touchdowns passing. He rushed 56 times for 150 yards with six touchdowns.
Morgan has shown flashes of being a dominant quarterback, but his best games were against Mississippi Valley State (1-10) and the Arkansas-Pine
Bluff (2-9). They are not exactly teams that are contending for the SWAC championship.
McDonald is a 6-foot quarterback who showed the ability to make big plays during tense moments of the 2023 season. But it would be a stretch to say he has shown he can carry the team should Morgan be injured or have a bad game and prompt coach T.C. Taylor to make a switch.
Terrell, a freshman, needs to play on the scout team and learn the system. He may be the quarterback of the future, but if Terrell is being relied upon to win games, Jackson State’s season has gone awry.
The team needs a veteran backup quarterback who has shown he can win games at the college level. Last season, Taylor opened the season with Jason Brown at quarterback and played McDonald and Morgan. If both Morgan and McDonald gets hurt, the team could be scrambling at the position like
it was in the kicking game in 2023.
Tight end
On the roster: Derek Scott, Sebastian Saint-Louis and Kendarrius Smith
Jency Riley Jr., who entered the portal Tuesday, was the only proven tight end on the roster.
Last season, the team used Hayden Hagler along with Riley, and they teamed with All-SWAC tight end D.J. Stevens to give the Tigers three solid options. The team will need to find tight ends to step up as receivers and blockers and to provide depth.
Smith played in two games and contributed on special teams in 2023. Saint-Louis played in five games last season and was used on special teams. Scott did not see any action last season.
Linebacker
On the roster: Allen Walker, Javarian Jenkins, Noah Boulieu, Jace Ward, J’Cori Hargon, Ashton Taylor, Bryce Owens, Bobby Ragas, Reid Pulliam, Jaylin Acker
Taylor has not hired a linebackers coach, and that adds the concerns for 2024. This is a physical position, and the team is inexperienced with only three linebackers who have playing time.
Walker is the most experienced linebacker returning. He played in 11 games and had 15 total tackles.
Boulieu played in nine games, making one solo tackle, and Jenkins had 11 tackles in six games. Taylor played in five games, mostly on special teams, and had one tackle. Ward played in one game. Pulliam played at Trinity Valley Community College in 2023. Ragas, Owens and Hargon did not see any action last season, and Acker is a freshman.
That is a lot to ask from a team that must hold up against the physical rigors of a SWAC football season.