5 G5 Teams With The Least Returning Production In 2024

Joe Londergan | May 14, 2024

Oct 28, 2023; Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Air Force Falcons head coach Troy Calhoun talks with / Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

This offseason, transfer portal departures, the NFL Draft, and graduation have left Group of Five rosters without many of the game's most prolific contributors from last season. For a few G5 programs in particular, they'll need to rely on newer and/or younger faces to get back to winning ways.

ESPN's Bill Connelly released his calculations for the percentage of returning production each FBS team will have at their disposal this fall. While not every G5 team is starting from scratch, a few will clearly need to make sure they find those new leaders by the fall. These five are the teams who stick out the most in that regard.

RELATED: 5 G5 Teams With The Most Returning Production In 2024

---

Air Force (25% Returning Production)

Air Force having one of the smallest pools of returning players with lots of returning production shouldn't come as much of a surprise. None of the three major service academies make a habit of putting freshman and sophomores in starring roles. As a result, graduation can primarily be blamed for a lot of that attrition. However, running back John Lee Eldridge and tight end Caleb Rillos are notable transfer portal losses.

Louisiana-Monroe (33% Returning Production)

The Warhawks are entering a new era with Bryant Vincent as the head coach. A handful of players have followed Vincent to the East from his previous stop as the offensive coordinator at New Mexico. Maybe a completely fresh start isn't such a bad thing after a 2-10 season in 2023.

Troy (35% Returning Production)

The back-to-back Sun Belt champions are also starting anew under head coach Gerad Parker, who joins after a stint as the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame. 2023 Sun Belt offensive player of the year Kimani Vidal was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers this spring and standout defender Javon Solomon was also drafted by the Buffalo Bills. Several of Troy's younger standouts also followed former head coach Jon Sumrall to Tulane.

Temple (36% Returning Production)

EJ Warner was the American's leading passer at Temple in 2023, but he has since made the move to Rice. Temple's leading tackler Jordan Magee is now a member of the NFL's Washington Commanders. There are opportunities for new faces to grow into some of Drayton's main pieces on both sides of the ball.

San José State (36% Returning Production)

Another team replacing their head coach, San José State brought in Ken Niumatalolo to replace now-Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. They lost roughly 22 players to the transfer portal, including five that followed Brennan to Tucson. The running game is particularly concerning with last year's top two rushers both gone in Kairee Robinson and Quali Conley.