Just saw that ESPN piece on the 2027 quarterback class and all I can think about is the 1998 Sun Bowl when we had a quarterback who actually stuck around for four years and built something. Now they are ranking kids who have never taken a snap in college like they are thoroughbreds at the Kentucky Derby. Arch Manning this, Dante Moore that, and where is TCU in that conversation? Nowhere. Because we do not have the five-star glitter that gets you on those lists anymore. Back in the 1990s we took kids from Texas high schools who had something to prove, coached them up, and sent them to the NFL with a chip on their shoulder. The transfer portal killed that whole model. Now every quarterback with a strong arm thinks he needs to be at Oregon or Texas or Ohio State and the rest of us are fighting over the scraps.
You watch these programs year through quarterbacks like they are renting them for a semester and tell me that is better than what we had. I remember when we went into South Bend in 1993 and beat Notre Dame with a quarterback who had been in the system for three years. That does not happen anymore. Nobody builds that kind of chemistry. Nobody earns the respect of the offensive line over time. It is all about who has the best NIL deal and the flashiest highlight reel from some 7-on-7 camp in Florida. The 2027 draft class is going to be loaded with talent but half of those kids will have played at two or three schools by the time they get there. That is not development. That is just roster management.