Mic’d Up for the first day of Spring Ball@StanDraytonTU
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— Temple Football (@Temple_FB) March 13, 2022

One of the hazards of being a big college football fan is that, due to the transfer portal, one of your favorite players on your favorite team could be here today and gone tomorrow.

At least that’s what it was under the old guy.

Temple football, under Stan Drayton, seems to have stabilized things because the new guy has done a pretty good job of bolting the exit door to the Edberg-Olson Football Complex completely shut. Since the PR guys have always done a good job keeping the roster on Owlsports.com up to date, we’re going to assume that everybody who is on paper will show up for practice tomorrow.

Five guys usually don’t make as much of a difference on a 100-man football roster as do five guys on a basketball roster but we’re going to list five newcomers today who could make a big difference for the 2022 Owls. By newcomers, we’re talking about guys who have not seen the field for any significant time so far, even if they have been walking around the practice facility.

In no particular order, they are:

Nazir Burnett, a redshirt sophomore WR _ Since he only played against Wagner, we will call him a newcomer. He played wide receiver for coach Jeff Weachter at Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg and was rated the No. 24 player in the state of Pennsylvania by 247Sports. With Jadan Blue gone to Virginia Tech, the Georgia Tech transfer should get an opportunity to catch a lot of balls. As a high school senior in 2018, Burnett caught 78 passes for 1,746 yards and an insane number of touchdowns (25). By comparison, the all-time single-season TD record for a WR at Temple is by Bruce Francis (15, 2008), which was the exact same number of TD catches Burnett had as a JUNIOR.

Iverson Clement,, a redshirt junior RB _ Got into a little dispute with the old head coach and strength coach, which is probably a plus and not a minus considering the cancer in the locker room those older guys were. In good graces with Drayton, Clement had 46 career touchdowns and 3,404 yards for his New Jersey High school career before signing at Florida.

Xach Gill, a redshirt senior DT _ Drayton has already noticed the 6-5, 295-pound tackle (hard not to) by singling him out for praise. One of the few Owls who have started a Power 5 game (at Wake Forest and for North Carolina), he immediately upgrades an area of need for Temple. A first-team All-State, he had 18 sacks (not simulated, but real) as a high school senior in North Carolina.

Lancine Turay, a redshirt junior DE/DT _ Another DL transfer from North Carolina, Turay gives the Owls needed size (6-6, 270) and length. Originally out of New Jersey, he’s got good genes as his brother, Kemoko, plays defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts. Lancine was rated as the 32d prospect in the entire state of New Jersey by 247Sports and had nine sacks his senior year.

Darvon Hubbard, a redshirt sophomore RB _ Coming all the way from Arizona by way of Texas A&M, Hubbard might be the fastest Owl since Bernard Pierce brought his state champion 100-meter (10.8) speed to Temple from Glen Mills. He averaged seven yards a carry as a high school senior and is pretty fresh since he only had 99 carries (for over 1,000) yards in his last full year of football. Probably is the best bet to take a long run to the house since the Owls did not get a single one of those from any of their running backs last year.

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