I don’t have all the data and I am going by my memory of last year’s portal (my memory is not a good data reference, admittedly) and the “word on the street” about this year’s portal/NIL season. The question comes from a conversation I had with a former college football assistant (as recent as the 2022 season) about a specific player, I had coached in HS and he had helped try to recruit to TCU, that evolved into a conversation on how the portal will affect players going forward.
My thoughts were that the top 100 portal players will find themselves in a better position financially but will be less certain to improve their draft status. I think portal entering players that were already on NFL radars don’t really improve their status unless they go from a weak conference, where they dominated, to a Power 4 conference and held the standard. I also think, and he agreed wholeheartedly, that the vast majority the players that enter the portal will not only NOT improve their play or draft position, they will risk damaging their chances of finding a spot at all.
I am sure Ketch has or can get data showing how many players entered the portal last season that did not show up on a 2024 roster on a power team. I fully admit that some players will value starting on a team like SFA or Sam Houston over just being listed on the roster at Texas. I can’t fault them for wanting to play. The players that I am talking about are the guys that can’t quite crack the 2 deep here and portal out to find themselves in the same or worse situation at the new team if they find one.
My other thought is that the portal and Nil target deal will have to shrink. The amounts sought for portal players this year (some of the top players entertaining offers in the millionS) is going to exceed budgets. Teams will have to decide if they will fill needs or add a splash player for most of the budget. Texas is kind of the top dog in NIL spending (if reports are accurate) and that one player @Ketchum referenced recently being offered “multiple million” will likely be a pass now because we have so many spots to fill on the DL. I think we will see more parody as top line players choose between contending programs and the best payday they can get. Top programs will have to play a college football version of “money ball” to add as much overall talent as they can fit in the budget. I think the days of Texas potentially getting “Errrrbody” will now never materialize because the dollars sought are greater than the dollars available to commit for those top players at the positions we need. Thank God we don’t need a portal QB!
Thoughts?
My thoughts were that the top 100 portal players will find themselves in a better position financially but will be less certain to improve their draft status. I think portal entering players that were already on NFL radars don’t really improve their status unless they go from a weak conference, where they dominated, to a Power 4 conference and held the standard. I also think, and he agreed wholeheartedly, that the vast majority the players that enter the portal will not only NOT improve their play or draft position, they will risk damaging their chances of finding a spot at all.
I am sure Ketch has or can get data showing how many players entered the portal last season that did not show up on a 2024 roster on a power team. I fully admit that some players will value starting on a team like SFA or Sam Houston over just being listed on the roster at Texas. I can’t fault them for wanting to play. The players that I am talking about are the guys that can’t quite crack the 2 deep here and portal out to find themselves in the same or worse situation at the new team if they find one.
My other thought is that the portal and Nil target deal will have to shrink. The amounts sought for portal players this year (some of the top players entertaining offers in the millionS) is going to exceed budgets. Teams will have to decide if they will fill needs or add a splash player for most of the budget. Texas is kind of the top dog in NIL spending (if reports are accurate) and that one player @Ketchum referenced recently being offered “multiple million” will likely be a pass now because we have so many spots to fill on the DL. I think we will see more parody as top line players choose between contending programs and the best payday they can get. Top programs will have to play a college football version of “money ball” to add as much overall talent as they can fit in the budget. I think the days of Texas potentially getting “Errrrbody” will now never materialize because the dollars sought are greater than the dollars available to commit for those top players at the positions we need. Thank God we don’t need a portal QB!
Thoughts?
