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Message: [QUOTE="Archbold44, post: 5614131, member: 10528"] There is a bigger issue. We are not producing 1-3 Round NFL talent anymore. 1986: Tim Green (1st) 1987: Schwedes 1988: Gregory & Kane 1989: Johnston and Drummond 1990: Wooden 1991: Flannery 1993: Ismail and Gedney 1994: Mitchell 1995: Tuten 1996: Harrison (1st) 1997: Abrams 1998: Jones & Darius (both 1st) 1999: McNabb (1st), Johnson, and Konrad 2000: Bulluck 2001: Allen (1st) 2002: Freeney (1st) 2005: Terry 2006: Smith 2012: CJones (1st) 2013: Pugh (1st) 2014: Bromley 2021: Cisco, Iffy 2023: Bergeron, Williams From 1996 to 2002, we had 6 first round picks. In the 2 years we did not, we had a 2nd/3rd round pick. And that was good enough to only get 8-10 win seasons. From 2003 draft to 2011 draft, only 2 2/d round picks. Not surprisingly those were the end P, G-Rob, and early Marron years. The 2025 draft had 4 guys taken, plus some key UDFA. 2 of those guys were 1-year mercenaries. Not surprisingly, we were 10-3 in 2024. Edit: 1986-2002 = 17 drafts, 22 top 3 round draftees. 2003-2024 = 22 drafts, 9 top 3 round draftees. Go figure. I get that the game is changed and you cannot get 3 or 4 year guys to stick around. But it is pretty notable that the more very good NFL talent you have in your program, the better you are going to be. If we cannot pay them to come via the portal, we need to develop them and pay enough to keep them. If we cannot recruit them, then we need to get them via the portal. But that requires paying them anyway. I thought Fran's plan was to recruit key guys and pay to keep them. At least then you know what you have. But now it looks like we are going to let our better players leave and try to replaced them with cheaper players via the portal... where 50 other schools can pay as least as much as we can. If we are not going to compete financially in this era, then there is no real reason to think we will ever do any better than a 10-win season every 7-8 years when we have a better than usual team, better than usual health, and a much less challenging schedule. If we are not better than usual, have injuries OR have a tough schedule, bowl is the max. And if we have all three... it's an embarassing season. And I think that bears out with our recent history. [/QUOTE]

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