11W's Dan Hope talked bout the new reality of the transfer portal earlier this year in an article titled "Lack of QB Depth could become a frequent reality in the transfer portal era". That article focused on the loss of OSU QB's Burrow, Martell, and Baldwin. He stated that:

That said, frequent turnover at the quarterback position is increasingly becoming the new normal in college football, not only at Ohio State but at other major programs as well.

He then went on to ask the important question:

 That leaves Ohio State, and other programs of its caliber, with a tougher question to ask themselves: Do they make a concerted effort to recruit some quarterbacks who they believe will be loyal regardless of playing time, even if that means settling for less heralded talent, or do they continue recruiting as many quarterbacks as they can with star potential, and hope for the best?

Here's my #take on this ... looking for constructive feedback.

If you are currently a blue blood, successful P5 program, you can probably work the transfer portal to your advantage and recruit more/better QB talent than you normally would. Disagree? Let's look at a hypothetical scenario ...

QB Aaron is a 2020 5* QB who commits to the Buckeyes. He's a top prospect who has all of the tools and talent to be the next big thing. He is a force in recruiting even before he hits campus, and is a class headliner. He's the QB stud you want to fill the position for the next 2-4 years.

QB Bob is a 2020 4* QB - a pretty good prospect, but not weak enough to want to take a backseat to Aaron. He's a quality QB who might need a little development. He could easily start at a lower ranked P5 school in year 1 or 2. But, he would be a great backup behind QB Aaron. With Aaron in the class, how do you get Bob to buy in and join as well? How do you get both QB's to commit to ensure necessary roster depth?

Answer: the transfer portal!

QB Aaron is the prize, but QB Bob is the necessary insurance. Tell Bob that he can come in and compete with Aaron. If he beats him out, great! If Aaron get's hurt, Bob's next man up. If, in 2 years, it looks like Bob is sitting behind Aaron or a later recruit for the rest of his college career, then he has had a couple of years of really good QB tutelage and can still transfer to another school (where he can come in and compete for a starting position). Plus, he'll have had a chance to be on a good,winning team. (See: Matthew Baldwin!)

The downside is that with the transfer you appear to lose depth. In actuality, not really, because with the loss of Bob, you can recruit 2 more high 4* - 5* caliber QB's the next year. And the cycle repeats itself each year.

So, instead of a 5* QB, then a couple of filler QB's (at the high 3* or low 4* level), you keep reloading with higher 4* to 5* talent every year. It's the Bama route of bringing in the best and pushing out the underachieving recruits, without the negative implications or appearances. And QB Bob kind of controls his own destiny where/when he goes if he doesn't beat out Aaron.

This is the scenario. How many colleges (Bama, Clemson, OSU, etc.) do you think are currently doing this, and how many will be in the next couple of years?