You see ESPN dropping these "under-the-radar players" lists and I just see the same problem that's been eating this sport alive for years now. Nobody stays long enough to actually become a househld name anymore. Back in the 1998 season we had a kid who started four years at defensive end and by his senior year every fan in the stadium knew his number before the snap. Now these kids are in the portal halfway through spring ball because they aren't getting enough touches in the first scrimmage.
This roster turnover is absolutely out of control. Oklahoma State brought in FIFTY transfers under Eric Morris and Colorado took forty-three under Deion Sanders. That is not building a program. That is playing roster fantasy football. Gary Patterson would have laughed you out of the building if you suggested overhauling half the team every single offseason. You cannot build chemistry or trust or a real culture when you are meeting your teammates at the same time the media does.
The portal killed loyalty and I will die on that hill. Our kids used to bleed purple. They stayed through the bad seasons and celebrated the good ones. Now they leave because the NIL deal across town is three thousand dollars better. The 2010 Rose Bowl team had guys who committed in 2006 and never once looked back. You cannot tell me that level of commit still exists in this sport.