On Rhule's Sports Nightly comments around RB, and just the portal haul/money management in general here are my thoughts:
1) Sometimes I wish Rhule would just be more careful with his words as saying he had enough money a couple of months ago, then saying now had to make economic decisions doesn't do him any favors
2) I really would like another RB, but if he has to pick a position to be cheap at, I'd prefer it be RB. There's so many examples across college and the pros where if you have a good scheme and a good OL that RB can be kind of plug and play.
3) Seems pretty evident that rate of NIL money required is accelerating faster than Rhule and a lot of others thought. The raise to 35-40 million was probably his dream a year ago, and it's just not the same now.
4) Also seems pretty clear they prioritized using a large part of their budget to prioritize our own guys. The fact that outside of Dylan we only lost Keona Davis and Hartzog as contributors is pretty impressive in this day and age.
5) Overall, I think we tend to underestimate the budget/allocation component of this and get stuck on "they need more high impact guys" or "we should get a RB" and don't see it as an interconnected puzzle where every decision has a cost/benefit that affects other areas even at a budget of 35-40 mil. To me it seems they went in with a clear plan of "value retention, rebuild the QB and LB rooms, build depth on the lines and in the secondary". Now time will tell if it's the right plan, if we chose the right guys, and if we can develop/execute now from a coaching perspective.
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