seems to me the position group where you get the most bang for the buck is ol...

you often see a hs recruit make an immediate impact their first year but this is much less true for ol. ie. there is a fresh crop of jackrabbits every year but it takes time to grow a redwood.

it also seems to me that ol is the group with the biggest variance on development. since you are largely buying future potential - additional growth, development, "filling out", etc. - there is often a gap between what you think you are getting with that hs senior and what it actually turns into.

another position i think it has an outsized impact on is kickers and punters. not sure why you would recruit another one out of hs again. just get a proven product off the shelf each year and roll with that. don't know the story on what happened but i think we signed the #1 kicker a few years ago (ethan m? out of washington) and i don't think i ever saw him hit the field in a game.

qb is another game changer. not b/c you can't generally identify the top prospects out of hs but now when you miss either due to injury or poor evaluation, you don't have to have that albatross hanging around your neck for 4 years.

the guys whose job got a whole lot tougher through all this are the coaches at the mid-majors. tough to build a sustainable program when the diamonds in the rough you develop go on to an early payday with the money schools.

Qb

I would agree with that. Most OL are not physically ready at 19 and most QBs are not mentally ready at 19.

I think I would add CBs next on the list for both reasons. Of course LBs develop a lot, too. And we've had big impact from the portal on the DL and WR so you can't forget about those. And it's nice to get a TE from the portal who is physically developed. Safeties and RBs can also make a pretty big impact, too. And after this year, I'd be thrilled to get a good kicker.

So pretty much every position.

No. He didn't mention punter

Someone posted about JUCO becoming minor leagues...and i am mostly in agreeance.


So much is going to be determined by exposure now. My full expectation is that the college agent business is about to be full of competition and a lot of sneaky / sharky folks. It is highly likely that players are going to be at war with these agents over percentages and contract fulfilment.


The days of a few power agents is over ... college is going to have more Uncles and Dads involved than little league baseball.

That's partially because the NCAA still disallows an agent representing a student-athlete in negotiating baseline educational benefits. They can negotiate external NIL but not sure if they can represent during the College Sports Commission review by Deloitte.

It's all messy.

Don't forget about the holder. Notre Dame could be in the market….