The transfer system is definitely a good thing.
I agree, but my take is that it won't hurt who you would think.
- Getting the shaft - the G5 who find the diamond in the rough 2* who develops into a 4*. He's gone now to a team where he gets more TV coverage, a shot at a title of some sort. See the Buffalo RB who is in the portal. Or, teams that go totally dysfunctional and everyone jumps into the portal - I'm looking at you UTjr.
- No change - the top tier recruiters. UA, UGA, tOSU, CU, LSU ... they will still get a ton of their players as freshman, and they will lose some/several once the determine they aren't going to win the competition. He's listed as a safety (although may be a CB). Bama has 7 on their roster, and 3 in this class. You don't rotate safety all that much, so there are going to be some guys who won't get to play. Arnold (top 100) picked Bama over UGA but some of that 10 will transfer at some point. We've lost Fields to tOSU, Cox to UF, Otis Reese to Ole Miss, Eason to WashU, Johnson to FSU, Stevens to UM, just in the last 3 years. Those are all 5* or highly regarded 4*. And we rotate 22 players on D. But, at some point there just aren't enough plays.
That sounds bad but it's not. Even after those people leave, they still have more talent than most everyone else. And, because they are in the hunt for NCs/CCs each year, they will get the pick of players in the portal for positions of need.
- I suck at recruiting, but know how to work the portal - we are talking about Mullen and UF, and their ilk. Mullen has taken 5 transfers this year, two 5*, and then 7 in 2020 that included three 5* out of high school. Cool aside - 247 is re-ranking Transfers. In this regard, Mullen doesn't look so good - Cox .9867 5* out of HS, 4* .9100 as a transfer, Lingard went from a 5* in HS to a 3* transfer, and Shorter went from a HS 5* to 3* transfer. Love that they are doing that. Sucky recruiters can fill their rosters this way, but there is risk. Transfers can be attitude issues (Cox at UGA), or players who don't live up to the HS rankings (Lingard and Shorter); and there can be culture issues when the players have to adapt top a new system. So, it's not risk free, but Mullen has had some success to overcome his poor recruiting.
- Really works for - this is the group that is about 7 or 8 - about top 16 each year. These are teams, like UF, that recruit well enough to be on the cusp of competing in their conference, and might get the 2 or 3 players that can make a difference. I think this is the group that can offer quicker PT and clearer path to PT that will help.
- We are crazy - that's Texas State who signed 1 players in the ESD and NSD, and is choosing to get its entire class through the portal.