The spring portal closed end of last month, so things have slowed down on the transfer front. Unfortunately, that coincided with the draft, then a vigorous scout hiring/firing season, so we haven’t had a chance to get the picture of the April window this year.
With that in mind, we reached out to several people on both sides of it — agents and personnel people at schools — to get a sense of how the spring went. Here’s what we were told, first from the team/personnel side.
Talent, as expected, was a little low, though prices were still high: “There were some talented players, don’t get me wrong, but the teams that struck out during the winter portal were desperate to get them,” said one personnel director. “That drove the player’s market value up. . . Overall, it was hard to find elite talent in April’s portal compared to winter. I don’t think teams overpaid, per se, but the market value for certain positions increased.” Said another: “You’ll see a few high-profile guys go in, but it’s usually because they didn’t like the new staff that took over the program or NIL that was promised isn’t actually what is being given.”
Patience is thin: “Was surprised to see the amount of redshirt freshman in the transfer portal,” said one source. “Players that rarely played last year, that did not have much tape to evaluate. Personnel like myself needed to evaluate based off high school HUDL tape.”
Jucos have a tougher path: “There were a good amount of former junior college players that entered the transfer portal,” said one personnel director. “Their path becomes challenging because of the transcripts that you need to acquire, and also you’re taking a shot on a young man that’s a 2/1 that may have not played too much in his past.”
Because there are fewer seasoned players, it’s harder to know what you’re getting: “Spring tends to be more roster-fillers and guys with less snaps and chances of playing time, so you lose depth in the end and it’s hard evaluating those guys in the portal due to a lack of experience,” said one source.
Running back value was up: “Teams seemed to be overpaying for RBs. Every RB we talked to was asking for at least $100K. Guys like (new Miami signee/ex-Oregon State OH) Damien Martinez could go anywhere he wants,” said one school official.
There remains a poor understanding of economic forces and the by some players/agents: “Guys chasing the money truly don’t know how what the market value is and how a fiscal year works (SR with only seven months asking for a year’s amount of money, for example),” said a personnel and recruiting veteran.
Some teams are coming up with creative ways to avoid paying retail for QBs: “I like what Texas Tech did,” said one school official. “Instead of paying $1.5-$2M for a QB, they decided to do something different and just get really good weapons on offense for a lesser QB. We will see if it works.”
As always, it all starts up front: “It is DIFFICULT to find quality OL and DL in the portal,” complained one source. “They tend not to leave. So when we lost our center . . . we decided to not replace him. It didn’t make sense to us. We moved that scholarship to get another QB on our roster.”
There is as much mystery related to the market as ever: “All the numbers kids asked for were different at different schools, and often times, the rumor that’s floating out there isn’t what the kid is seeking,” said one source. “Agents have seen that they can take advantage of the kids’ earnings and will pump the number up just because there are no parameters and kids aren’t as involved in the money side.”