Fair. It’s pretty clear we all would feel better if they came out of this weekend with more depth and maybe even a RT starter. But what we don’t know if what these guys were asking….money, position, playing time, jersey number, who knows. I still personally feel the best use of NIL money is retention of kids you know can play. Who know your play book. And in this case, can play at your pace. The collective/coaches allocated funds to keep Coop and Campbell (and I assume spraggs). Those guys set the market for this team in 2024. If you are a mediocre player from Kansas or UNC and ask for more than your best guys-guys you know can play in the SEC-I would hope our coaches would pass.
As for performance, it’s a good point. There are people on here better skilled at evaluating line play than me. But was Mincey that much better than Davis this year? Again-I’d like more depth and perhaps an upgrade if it’s out there. But Mincey could be really good, or he could be very lazy. At least with Davis you get consistent effort. I guess my point is that while we’d all love to upgrade, I don’t think we will see a big drop-off. And at the risk of digressing, my hunch is that Nico makes them all better because 1) he can play with pace and 2) he can instinctually run the ball, thus improving the math at the line of scrimmage. Heck, JJ looked like a solid SEC lineman with Hooker back there. It makes a difference for those guys.
