Does the transfer portal actually work in college football?

Pro Sports Application

We will look at 2 professional sports teams, the Los Angeles Rams and Golden State Warriors.

Each team has utilized both the ability to draft players and the free-agent market to solidify talent for their rosters. For the sake of the argument, we will evaluate their rosters based on collegiate football terms: drafting players will be referred to as “Blue-Chip Signee” and free agents as “Transfer Portal”.

Los Angeles Rams

Core Players: Aaron Donald (Blue-Chip Signee), Matthew Stafford (Transfer Portal), Jalen Ramsey (Transfer Portal), Von Miller (Transfer Portal), Odell Beckham, Jr (Transfer Portal).

The Rams have embarked on a philosophy that is centered around the transfer portal, and they’ve shown their ability to acquire the right talent and immediately utilize them effectively. The drawback is that these transfer portal additions are expensive (NIL) and may only be on the team for a year or two.

Case in point: after a tremendous super bowl run, Von Miller elected to sign a lucrative deal with the Buffalo Bills. The one-year acquisition of Miller paid off in the short-term, but does Los Angeles have the capabilities of finding someone else in the transfer portal to replace that production for another year, or will they have to attempt to find a blue-chip signee to develop within their system like Aaron Donald?

While many of the Rams’ blue-chip signees are not household names, they composed the majority of their roster and they played significant roles, providing quality depth on their roster. They were the glue that held the team together, despite the highly publicized star power.

Golden State Warriors

Core Players: Stephen Curry (Blue-Chip Signee), Klay Thompson (Blue-Chip Signee), Draymond Green (Blue-Chip Signee), Jordan Poole (Blue-Chip Signee), Kevon Looney (Blue-Chip Signee), Andrew Wiggins (Transfer Portal), Otto Porter (Transfer Portal).

The Warriors have been the quintessential team for banking on the development of their blue-chip signees. While they took some lumps with the growth of their young stars, they hit the jackpot in forming one of the greatest dynasties in professional sports history. Their ability to secure and develop their blue-chip signees allowed them to form a core player group and establish a culture that can withstand roster fluctuation. Their most famous use of the transfer portal was in 2017 when they acquired All-NBA performer Kevin Durant.

Did the Warriors need Kevin Durant to be a successful team? No. Was Kevin Durant a talent acquisition that exponentially made their team better? Yes. As a result, they won back-to-back NBA championships. On the other hand, Kevin Durant left the Warriors after the 2019 season and decided to take his talents elsewhere. Simply put, that is the risk a program takes when a player is not a “homegrown talent”.

Fast forward to the 2021-2022 Warriors team; they have the same core players but have continued to sign blue-chip players and have dabbled in the transfer portal when needed en route to another NBA Finals appearance.