2024 Transfer Thread - The Pedantic Circlejerk

[Thiefery 4995]

Bobby reiterated that he hasn't heard that Humphrey is serious in his "interest" at UT or the staff having any interest in him.  Says we are gonna hear UT out the mouths of players in the portal for the next year..  But it was his and the other $9.95ers to weed out what is legit and what is not

[Hookem2147 21194]

Some roster notes from IT:

-Brooks, Sanders, Mitchell, Crawford (special teams) all expected to declare

-Ewers still expected to return

-Gbenda will either return or follow Choate to Nevada

-Jerrin Thompson leaning towards entering the portal 

-Solid chance Watts returns with a move to safety

-They will be aggressive in trying to get Collins to return but he had his eyes set on the NFL before the season.

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

Just now, Hookem2147 said:

-Solid chance Watts returns with a move to safety

That could be interesting....

[Hiphopopotamos 20869]

1 minute ago, Hookem2147 said:

Some roster notes from IT:

-Brooks, Sanders, Mitchell, Crawford (special teams) all expected to declare

-Ewers still expected to return

-Gbenda will either return or follow Choate to Nevada

-Jerrin Thompson leaning towards entering the portal 

-Solid chance Watts returns with a move to safety

-They will be aggressive in trying to get Collins to return but he had his eyes set on the NFL before the season.

Well - fuck.  I know it was unreasonable given their draft prospects - but I was really holding out hope that one of Sanders/Mitchell would return next season.  Johntay Cook is going to feast next season I'd guess.

[pacman 7355]

Why would Jerrin portal?

[BigOrange1 6433]

3 minutes ago, pacman said:

Why would Jerrin portal?

passed over for playing time would be my assumption.

[6th Street 6390]

I think Jerrin was politely told he was unlikely to start next year since he can't cover or tackle.

[Hookem2147 21194]

3 minutes ago, pacman said:

Why would Jerrin portal?

Pretty much has maxed out here and could go somewhere else and play 90% of the snaps for his last year.

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

What are we looking at safety wise from a roster standpoint? 

 

Jelani Mcdonald is moved to safety full time now. Mukuba can play nickel or safety, right?

[Tex Pete 20334]

2 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

If he's doing anything more than asking directions to Blinn, then Elko is staring at a very dark reality that's more like a nightmare. He was told that A&M could pony up to bolster the roster; this suggests (again) that they can't.

Bjork, in announcing that they are not an 8-4 program, stated that they would assemble a great staff. They aren't. I'll add to the chorus saying they don't have the money to make  a high level assistant coach come work for a schlub who is little more than a highly regarded assistant coach himself. So much risk of landing at a career killer.

I find it amazing that this is a supposed "institution of higher learning," and that they falsely pride themselves on not "lying, cheating, or stealing."

They ran away from us to the SEC (making sure the "final" game would be in CS, blaming it on mean old Texas and the LHN, yet it came out at the time that they had been in secret discussions with the SEC for well over a year, while publicly lying about it to everyone else. They then proceeded to attempt to destroy the Big 12 and blamed us for not rearranging our schedule to continue playing them.

Later, they spent way beyond their means to hire Jimbo Fisher and declared to the world that they were the richest program in college football by using falsely inflated numbers and mis-categorizing assets. In the process, they reset coaching salaries for everyone. Jimbo won NOTHING. They beat up on shit teams and inflated their win totals with FCS schools and a covid year in which they beat a bunch of terrible teams who had either recently fired their coaches or who did that season. During covid, their coach was cheating and illegally hosting recruits at his ranch "off the books." After that season, they spent more money they did not really have to give a shitty coach a ridiculous extension he did not actually merit because no one else really wanted to hire him.

In the 2022 recruiting period, they illegally paid players outside of NIL regulations because they mistakenly thought that would provide them a sustained big boost as a program. They did everything they could to crow about hos rich they were and how everyone was going to see that the sleeping giant (has anyone ever checked its pulse? I don't think it's asleep) had finally been awakened. In the process, they took a bunch of low character divas who were more interested in spending their illegal loot and smoking weed than they were in actually playing football. Their cheating was so blatant that they signed a #1 class, showing the whole world that something wasn't right, and drawing the ire of Nick Saban. During the same timeframe, they found out Texas and Oklahoma had been invited to the SEC, making A&M just another bottom-feeding SEC school. Rather than work to better their program, they immediately leaked the news in hopes of sabotaging the move. Seems really ethical, no.

Back on the football field, the Ags immediately faceplanted. The heat of the spotlight proved to be too much for a perennial middling program. Their mercenary players had no self-control, their head coach was detached from reality and stuck in his ways, and their irrational fanbase demanded the program be something it never has been: a winner. With Texas winning and bound for the SEC, A&M panicked. They shit all over themselves. Because of their idiotic contract "negotiations" (not negotiations at all. Fisher told them how it would all go) they owed Jimbo and staff a ton of money they don't actually have. No reasonable program would have fired him in 2023 with so much money owed, but Texas A&M is no reasonable program.

Without considering the consequences, they fired Jimbo. They had no replacement lined up. They really had no idea how much they would have to pay to hire an inexperienced replacement and his second rate cronies.  They just HAD to do it. They could not let mean old t.u. get a jump on them in the SEC or make them look like the losers they are. A&M probed around and got turned down by several top tier and some less-than-stellar coaches. They hired Mark Stoops and then reneged when the rest of the CFB world made fun of what a mediocre hire that was. At that point, they had to hire the next person who wouldn't send Bjork's call to voicemail.

Here we are. The whole situation looks like it wasn't planned out...because it wasn't. As with everything else A&M has done in the last 15 or so years, this will blow up in their faces. Meanwhile, the athletic department still hasn't paid back the academic side for a loan they took out in the early 2000s. Maybe someone should put responsible adults in charge over there.

Edited January 3 by Tex Pete

[Hookem2147 21194]

Just now, BurntOrange&White said:

What are we looking at safety wise from a roster standpoint? 

 

Jelani Mcdonald is moved to safety full time now. Mukuba can play nickel or safety, right?

RS SR Watts (if he returns)

SR Andrew Mukuba (nickel or safety)

RS JR Taaffe

SO Derek Williams

RS FR Jelani McDonald

FR Xavier Filsaime

FR JJR

Maybe Austin Jordan moves to safety too?

[6th Street 6390]

It's possible Thompson overruns the portal and ends up back in high school.

[South Austin 52453]

3 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

I find it amazing that this is a supposed "institution of higher learning," and that they falsely pride themselves on not "lying, cheating, or stealing."

They ran away from us to the SEC (making sure the "final" game would be in CS, blaming it on mean old Texas and the LHN, yet it came out at the time that they had been in secret discussions with the SEC for well over a year, while publicly lying about it to everyone else. They then proceeded to attempt to destroy the Big 12 and blamed us for not rearranging our schedule to continue playing them.

Later, they spent way beyond their means to hire Jimbo Fisher and declared to the world that they were the richest program in college football by using falsely inflated numbers and mis-categorizing assets. In the process, they reset coaching salaries for everyone. Jimbo won NOTHING. They beat up on shit teams and inflated their win totals with FCS schools and a covid year in which they beat a bunch of terrible teams who had either recently fired their coaches or who did that season. During covid, their coach was cheating and illegally hosting recruits at his ranch "off the books." After that season, they spent more money they did not really have to give a shitty coach a ridiculous extension he did not actually merit because no one else really wanted to hire him.

In the 2022 recruiting period, they illegally paid players outside of NIL regulations because they mistakenly thought that would provide them a sustained big boost as a program. They did everything they could to crow about hos rich they were and how everyone was going to see that the sleeping giant (has anyone ever checked its pulse? I don't think it's asleep) had finally been awakened. In the process, they took a bunch of low character divas who were more interested in spending their illegal loot and smoking weed than they were in actually playing football. Their cheating was so blatant that they signed a #1 class, showing the whole world that something wasn't right, and drawing the ire of Nick Saban. During the same timeframe, they found out Texas and Oklahoma had been invited to the SEC, making A&M just another bottom-feeding SEC school. Rather than work to better their program, they immediately leaked the news in hopes of sabotaging the move. Seems really ethical, no.

Back on the football field, the Ags immediately faceplanted. The heat of the spotlight proved to be too much for a perennial middling program. Their mercenary players had no self-control, their head coach was detached from reality and stuck in his ways, and their irrational fanbase demanded the program be something it never has been: a winner. With Texas winning and bound for the SEC, A&M panicked. They shit all over themselves. Because of their idiotic contract "negotiations" (not negotiations at all. Fisher told them how it would all go) they owed Jimbo and staff a ton of money they don't actually have. No reasonable program would have fired him in 2023 with so much money owed, but Texas A&M is no reasonable program.

Without considering the consequences, they fired Jimbo. They had no replacement lined up. They really had no idea how much they would have to pay to hire an inexperienced replacement and his second rate cronies.  They just HAD to do it. They could not let mean old t.u. get a jump on them in the SEC or make them look like the losers they are. A&M probed around and got turned down by several top tier and some less-than-stellar coaches. They hired Mark Stoops and then reneged when the rest of the CFB world made fun of what a mediocre hire that was. At that point, they had to hire the next person who wouldn't send Bjork's call to voicemail.

Here we are. The whole situation looks like it wasn't planned out...because it wasn't. As with everything else A&M has done in the last 15 or so years, this will blow up in their faces.

Would read again.  Anxiously awaiting the Netflix series.

[pearlandhorn 3269]

2 hours ago, TheMailBox357 said:

Uhhh... Have any of the UT 9.95ers reported a UT OV? I could sworn on last night's livestream that Bobby said no on UT having interest.

I have now figured out the 9.95er model.  Watch Bobby's livestreams, come the surly for reassurance, tweak a bit and report on orangebloods.

[Hank Kingsley 20906]

7 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

RS SR Watts (if he returns)

SR Andrew Mukuba (nickel or safety)

RS JR Taaffe

SO Derek Williams

RS FR Jelani McDonald

FR Xavier Filsaime

FR JJR

Maybe Austin Jordan moves to safety too?

Feels like we are in good shape at Safety. 

What about Cornerbacks? I think Muhammad is a stud and automatic starter. Wonder how confident coaches are in Terrance Brooks. He didn't really stand out to me much this year. 

 

Edited January 3 by Hank Kingsley

[Tex Pete 20334]

4 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Would read again.  Anxiously awaiting the Netflix series.

I realized I was going all Randolph Duke, without all the technical and historical references, and I got bored about halfway through.

[MirrOlure 14760]

The prospect of Watts returning and moving to S is extremely gruntling.

How come none of you geniuses floated that idea out there at some point?

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

13 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

RS SR Watts (if he returns)

SR Andrew Mukuba (nickel or safety)

RS JR Taaffe

SO Derek Williams

RS FR Jelani McDonald

FR Xavier Filsaime

FR JJR

Maybe Austin Jordan moves to safety too?

JJR will be nickel/star, right?

4 minutes ago, MirrOlure said:

The prospect of Watts returning and moving to S is extremely gruntling.

How come none of you geniuses floated that idea out there at some point?

I'm pretty sure it has been floated before.

[Hookem2147 21194]

3 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Feels like we are in good shape at Safety. 

What about Cornerbacks? I think Muhammad is a stud and automatic starter. Wonder how confident coaches are in Terrance Brooks. He didn't really stand out to me much this year. 

 

Our lasting memory of Brooks from the season won’t be pretty due to the last game, but he had a solid year. 

I guess it’s hard to feel super confident but you would think Muhammad, Brooks, Holmes, Black, Mack and Wilson provide us a solid floor with some upside. We will be really young outside of Brooks and Holmes which is a bit of a concern.

[RomaVicta 29902]

18 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

They did everything they could to crow about hos rich they were and how everyone was going to see that the sleeping giant (has anyone ever checked its pulse? I don't think it's asleep) had finally been awakened.

[closetojumping 62560]

18 minutes ago, Tex Pete said:

I find it amazing that this is a supposed "institution of higher learning," and that they falsely pride themselves on not "lying, cheating, or stealing."

They ran away from us to the SEC (making sure the "final" game would be in CS, blaming it on mean old Texas and the LHN, yet it came out at the time that they had been in secret discussions with the SEC for well over a year, while publicly lying about it to everyone else. They then proceeded to attempt to destroy the Big 12 and blamed us for not rearranging our schedule to continue playing them.

Later, they spent way beyond their means to hire Jimbo Fisher and declared to the world that they were the richest program in college football by using falsely inflated numbers and mis-categorizing assets. In the process, they reset coaching salaries for everyone. Jimbo won NOTHING. They beat up on shit teams and inflated their win totals with FCS schools and a covid year in which they beat a bunch of terrible teams who had either recently fired their coaches or who did that season. During covid, their coach was cheating and illegally hosting recruits at his ranch "off the books." After that season, they spent more money they did not really have to give a shitty coach a ridiculous extension he did not actually merit because no one else really wanted to hire him.

In the 2022 recruiting period, they illegally paid players outside of NIL regulations because they mistakenly thought that would provide them a sustained big boost as a program. They did everything they could to crow about hos rich they were and how everyone was going to see that the sleeping giant (has anyone ever checked its pulse? I don't think it's asleep) had finally been awakened. In the process, they took a bunch of low character divas who were more interested in spending their illegal loot and smoking weed than they were in actually playing football. Their cheating was so blatant that they signed a #1 class, showing the whole world that something wasn't right, and drawing the ire of Nick Saban. During the same timeframe, they found out Texas and Oklahoma had been invited to the SEC, making A&M just another bottom-feeding SEC school. Rather than work to better their program, they immediately leaked the news in hopes of sabotaging the move. Seems really ethical, no.

Back on the football field, the Ags immediately faceplanted. The heat of the spotlight proved to be too much for a perennial middling program. Their mercenary players had no self-control, their head coach was detached from reality and stuck in his ways, and their irrational fanbase demanded the program be something it never has been: a winner. With Texas winning and bound for the SEC, A&M panicked. They shit all over themselves. Because of their idiotic contract "negotiations" (not negotiations at all. Fisher told them how it would all go) they owed Jimbo and staff a ton of money they don't actually have. No reasonable program would have fired him in 2023 with so much money owed, but Texas A&M is no reasonable program.

Without considering the consequences, they fired Jimbo. They had no replacement lined up. They really had no idea how much they would have to pay to hire an inexperienced replacement and his second rate cronies.  They just HAD to do it. They could not let mean old t.u. get a jump on them in the SEC or make them look like the losers they are. A&M probed around and got turned down by several top tier and some less-than-stellar coaches. They hired Mark Stoops and then reneged when the rest of the CFB world made fun of what a mediocre hire that was. At that point, they had to hire the next person who wouldn't send Bjork's call to voicemail.

Here we are. The whole situation looks like it wasn't planned out...because it wasn't. As with everything else A&M has done in the last 15 or so years, this will blow up in their faces. Meanwhile, the athletic department still hasn't paid back the academic side for a loan they took out in the early 2000s. Maybe someone should put responsible adults in charge over there.

I read this in the voice of V from V for Vendetta and it really makes it pop. 

[Texasborn91 935]

I think Brooks is capable of a decent jump next year, I think Muhammad is going to be a star though. Is Guilbeau going to portal? Mukuba is your nickel… Williams and Watts in the back. I think we definitely see improvement in the back. 

[Hookem2147 21194]

I don’t know what all would be required or how hard we would need to push, but it would be nice if Gbenda came back. His playing time went way down as the year went on but he would be in line for some more snaps next year and help raise the floor of that room.

[Hiphopopotamos 20869]

IT now reporting Alfred Collins is expected back for his Sr season. 

[Tex-19 2872]

36 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Some roster notes from IT:

-Brooks, Sanders, Mitchell, Crawford (special teams) all expected to declare

-Ewers still expected to return

-Gbenda will either return or follow Choate to Nevada

-Jerrin Thompson leaning towards entering the portal 

-Solid chance Watts returns with a move to safety

-They will be aggressive in trying to get Collins to return but he had his eyes set on the NFL before the season.

Why would Gbenda leave for Nevada? Seems like a spot is open with Ford gone and Gbenda played pretty well

[NoName 16351]

Just now, Hiphopopotamos said:

IT now reporting Alfred Collins is expected back for his Sr season. 

adding him back in to this group is big

 

[Burt Macklin 19020]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Some roster notes from IT:

-Gbenda will either return or follow Choate to Nevada

-Jerrin Thompson leaning towards entering the portal 

-Solid chance Watts returns with a move to safety

 

-Ideally Gbenda would stay through Spring ball and only transfer to Nevada if he loses the starting job to Lefau. 
 

-Thompson’s getting processed and it’s easy to see why. Just watch that long ball to Polk from the CFP. 
 

-Watts moving to safety would be amazing. That could very well strengthen 2 positions in our secondary. 

1 hour ago, BurntOrange&White said:

What are we looking at safety wise from a roster standpoint? 

 

Jelani Mcdonald is moved to safety full time now. Mukuba can play nickel or safety, right?

Mukuba was recruited to play Star. Guilbeau has been bad whenever he plays. I think the staff knew they couldn’t have him as the starter next year. 

57 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

JJR will be nickel/star, right?

I'm pretty sure it has been floated before.

JJR is perfect for Star. I believe Bobby said JJR will start at Star, but he can also play safety. 

Edited January 3 by Burt Macklin

[NoName 16351]

1 minute ago, Tex-19 said:

Why would Gbenda leave for Nevada? Seems like a spot is open with Ford gone and Gbenda played pretty well

may say a lot about Lefau's development or how good he thinks Hill is?

[Burt Macklin 19020]

2 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

IT now reporting Alfred Collins is expected back for his Sr season. 

That would be good news.
 

Could be great news if he really commits himself and makes a jump like Sweat and Coburn did the past two years. 
 

Still want Caldwell tho. 

[Thiefery 4995]

3 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

That would be good news.
 

Could be great news if he really commits himself and makes a jump like Sweat and Coburn did the past two years. 
 

Still want Caldwell tho. 

he looked committed this season

[6th Street 6390]

Brooks probably better off going pro than splitting carries with Baxter/Blue to start the year as he recovers from ACL surgery.

WR rotation probably looks like Cook, Golden, and Wingo with Niblett and Moore off the bench. 

TE is thin behind Helm. 

[Frank Drebin 5659]

Last year at this time I was concerned about interior DL.  I am not a "trust the coaches" guy generally.  But I do trust Davis to evaluate and develop.  His work with Murphy and Sweatt this year was stellar.  Collins should come back and try and be 2024's version of those two studs.

[pearlandhorn 3269]

29 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Feels like we are in good shape at Safety. 

What about Cornerbacks? I think Muhammad is a stud and automatic starter. Wonder how confident coaches are in Terrance Brooks. He didn't really stand out to me much this year. 

 

Kobe Black will begin at Corner and I believe I've heard potentially move to safety after he's gained weight (could have sworn I heard Bobby allude to this).  '24 signee and EE

Wardell Mack will play Corner I believe.  '24 signee and EE

Santana Wilson will play Corner I believe.  Belief that he will move to safety?  '24 signee and not an EE

There's also Gavin Holmes at corner.

 

 

Edited January 3 by pearlandhorn

[Frank Drebin 5659]

1 minute ago, 6th Street said:

Brooks probably better off going pro than splitting carries with Baxter/Blue to start the year as he recovers from ACL surgery.

WR rotation probably looks like Cook, Golden, and Wingo with Niblett and Moore off the bench. 

TE is thin behind Helm. 

I have to think there will be some pass catching option in the portal to add.  Maybe a TE or a receiver.

[Tex-19 2872]

Didn't Watts play safety for a while at tOSU? Was he any good at it?

[Red Five 40844]

3 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

WR rotation probably looks like Cook, Golden, and Wingo with Niblett and Moore off the bench. 

We'll add another portal WR.

[Vito Andolini 9124]

Quote

sworn I heard Bobby elude to this

Bobby doesn’t usually run from his opinions.

[pearlandhorn 3269]

1 minute ago, Vito Andolini said:

Bobby doesn’t usually run from his opinions.

Fixed for grammar.

Holden Staes, come on down.

[Tex-19 2872]

5 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

WR rotation probably looks like Cook, Golden, and Wingo with Niblett and Moore off the bench. 

Maybe Moore over a freshman Wingo, we'll see. And who's to say Niblett is good enough to play at this point

[LCHorn 2615]

5 minutes ago, pearlandhorn said:

Fixed for grammar.

Holden Staes, come on down.

As much fun as it is grabbing a prospect that Aggie really likes, Tennessee already has Staes on their roster and that presumption would make a switch all the more satisfying.  Also, their color of orange sucks.

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

1 minute ago, LCHorn said:

As much fun as it is grabbing a prospect that Aggie really likes, Tennessee already has Staes on their roster and that presumption would make a switch all the more satisfying.  Also, their color of orange sucks.

Transfers don't sign anything binding them to school....it is when they attend class that it becomes bound.

 

 

[LCHorn 2615]

6 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

Maybe Moore over a freshman Wingo, we'll see. And who's to say Niblett is good enough to play at this point

No way a team competing for a championship with a 4th year Heisman candidate QB is going to run out a WR grouping that is Golden and four dudes that are green sophomores or true freshman.  
 

They are going to add someone and/or go portal shopping.  

[6th Street 6390]

I thought they added Butler to the WR group instead of portal WR?

And man that TE group is thin if Helm goes down. Bunch of jags in Shannon, Randle, Davis, and Washington

[Butch Had Not 2969]

1 minute ago, 6th Street said:

I thought they added Butler to the WR group instead of portal WR?

And man that TE group is thin if Helm goes down. Bunch of jags in Shannon, Randle, Davis, and Washington

You forgot the super secret TE weapon....Malik Fucking Agbo.

[closetojumping 62560]

18 minutes ago, pearlandhorn said:

Kobe Black will begin at Corner and I believe I've heard potentially move to safety after he's gained weight (could have sworn I heard Bobby allude to this).  '24 signee and EE

Wardell Mack will play Corner I believe.  '24 signee and EE

Santana Wilson will play Corner I believe.  Belief that he will move to safety?  '24 signee and not an EE

There's also Gavin Holmes at corner.

 

 

The $9.95ers constantly fall into various echo chamber traps that they all wind up repeating mercilessly. One of those is that there is actually no such thing as a true tackle prospect. Every tackle prospect will probably wind up at guard. Yet somehow, two tackles are fielded per team every week during the college football season, and some of them are very good. A second one is similar, although it is newer, and that is the subtle notion that no CB above 5'9" or weighing more than 180 lbs is actually going to be a real CB. They're all going to spin to NB or S. Kobe Black has been hawt-taked into this premise at warp speed. In October, he was a 5 star CB. Now that he's visited some more places and been measured after his senior season, he's a 4 star Safety. We'll see, said the zen master.

18 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

I have to think there will be some pass catching option in the portal to add.  Maybe a TE or a receiver.

 

4 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

No way a team competing for a championship with a 4th year Heisman candidate QB is going to run out a WR grouping that is Golden and four dudes that are green sophomores or true freshman.  
 

They are going to add someone and/or go portal shopping.  

They are going to take a TE. 

When Stewart actually entered the portal, some folks were told that Texas "has bigger plans" at WR. I don't know what that really means, but I took it as a good thing. I'm still waiting to understand it, however.

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

Still can't believe people act like 5 star WR's are spares and it takes such a transition from HS to college. It's the easiest position to transition to.

[closetojumping 62560]

2 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

I thought they added Butler to the WR group instead of portal WR?

And man that TE group is thin if Helm goes down. Bunch of jags in Shannon, Randle, Davis, and Washington

I am entertained by your slavish adherence to your bit, but posts like this are so over the top that they're almost unfair. 

[MuellerHorn 4228]

1 hour ago, pacman said:

Why would Jerrin portal?

Because he runs a 4.8, takes horrible tackling angles, and is a total liability? See the first deep pass for UW, for example.

However, he's a LFL, and I wish him success.

[BornAndRaised 12281]

So Staes can still flip from Tennessee since he hasn't taken classes there yet? Which 995er said he was told he was our top option if sanders declares?

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

Just now, BornAndRaised said:

So Staes can still flip from Tennessee since he hasn't taken classes there yet? Which 995er said he was told he was our top option if sanders declares?

Correct and Bobby said that we told him once we get clarification on JT that he will be our priority.