6 hours Ago By Jim Gazzolo
Published 6:10 pm Saturday, December 21, 2024 By Jim Gazzolo While McNeese State waits to hear if their two most prominent names in the transfer portal will return, work on the roster is still being done. Saturday, the Cowboys officially added offensive lineman Joseph Cryer to the squad. Cryer is a 6-foot-3, 316-pound guard who played at Many High School and has three years of college eligibility remaining.
He finished his high school career at Natchitoches High. Cryer played last year at Southern Mississippi before entering the portal after the season. He originally signed to play at LSU, but the Tigers flipped him from Ole Miss, and after a few months of spring ball, he transferred to Southern Miss.
While in high school, Cryer was rated a 3-star prospect by all recruiting services. According to an On3 composite, he was the 28th-best prospect in Louisiana as a senior and No. 68 among all interior linemen nationally.
Cryer is considered a big get for head coach Matt Viator and the McNeese staff as they try to rebuild the program after five straight seasons of playing .500 or under football. He is also part of the Cowboys’ continuing attempt to bring back local talent.
“Anytime we can bring the Louisiana talent back home, McNeese football is going to be involved in their discussion,” said Cowboy Chief of Staff and recruiting coordinator Aaron Ingram. “There is too much history and too much excitement here for it not to be.” Cryer will add to an offensive line that also got back Hayes Creel, a 6-foot-7, 316-pounder who elected to return after originally entering the portal.
Last season, the Cowboys’ redshirt sophomore played in all 12 games. McNeese also signed players from the portal on Thursday, signing tight end Trevon Bradford from Northwestern State and cornerback Mason Edwards from Utah State. The Cowboys will play Utah State in Week 1 next season in Logan, Utah.
Bradford is a 6-foot-7, 230-pound freshman from Monroe who played very little with the Demons last fall. Edwards played two years of junior college at Hutchinson, Kansas, before moving to Utah State last fall. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
The Cowboys still hope that leading rusher Joshon Barbie and top defender, All-American linebacker Micah Davey will return. After suffering through a case of the fumbles early, Barbie recovered to lead the Cowboys in rushing with 831 yards and eight touchdowns last season. He entered the portal soon after Gary Goff was fired as head coach and replaced by Matt Viator.
Davey also entered the portal and confirmed on social media that he was visiting the University of Texas at El Paso last Thursday. A return of Davey would be a home run for McNeese, which improved to 6-6 last season mainly due to a strong run game and improved defense. Barbie earned a scholarship late in the 2023 season when he became the starting running back for McNeese after injuries to others opened the door for him.
He played for over a year as a walk-on. Barbie finished 2024 strong, rushing for 478 yards (119.5 average) over the final four games.
In three of those games, he ran for over 100 yards. More signings are expected for McNeese this week..
