That’s the thing. I think you’re gonna see teams value portal transfers over HS prospects like in basketball moving forward. The good thing about football is players have to be 3 years removed from HS to go pro, so why not have someone else foot the Freshman bill for development?
I'm in my 40s now but I worked 3 jobs up until recently because I grew up with a bit of income insecurity after a series of events that depleted a pretty healthy savings for a college kid while at UF. I'm by no means "wealthy" but if I had to I could pay off my house and live modestly for a good bit even though I'm still several years away from retirement. Some of it is getting older and valuing my time but I don't have the motivation to chase money and work some of the opportunities I have because I feel pretty secure at the moment. It's not an exact parallel but some of the highest recruits are purportedly getting more money promised to them than I have earned let alone saved. How does a kid stay motivated to work off season, early morning workouts, everyday, every play, etc etc? I think it is a mostly overlooked factor.
Yeah, you think someone is can't miss by what you see in highlights, but the reality is that the jump in competition is drastic from high school to P5 college.
yep. There it is. That’s what I couldn’t articulate. You see someone in HS that looked like a can’t miss prospect, who goes off to college as a highly rated kid, and doesn’t have any injuries or anything, but just….never pan out. like there’s a diff between a guy playing enough and you can say “yea he was rated too high coming out of HS but he’s solid” (someone like Jason Marshall to this point) vs guys who just never make a dent on the field ala Kamari Wilson
Gator fans frome the spurrier era know about those all too well. Steve Shipp, Bobby Sabelhaus, Ernie Badeaux, Terrance Foy and Brock Berlin to name a few. Also lends some interesting data regarding coaching and how certain programs or coaches "put players into the NFL." I mean, was spurrier a bad coach who couldn't get more out of those players? Was derrick Henry not going to be a pro running back if he didn't go to Bama/Saban? I get tired of hearing how certain programs send players to the league when the reality is certain programs hoarde and process in/ out talent depending on their methods and success. No bigger factor than that in my opinion. It's also why florida has been in the top 10 in sending players into the NFL despite being well behind some of these other ruthless recruit/player factories. Deonte Thompson, Pierce, Dunbar etc all made the NFL despite their modest production as players while gators.
Caleb Downs from Alabama in the portal. Possibly their highest rated player. Doubt UF has a shot. No reason to take a chance coming here to play for an unproven DC when he has better options, regardless of the NIL money. He's going to be a top 5 or 10 pick in all likelihood.