I think this is more true than most realize. HBCUs, like so many other universities, have lost scores of talented players to the “free agent” system that is now college football via NILs and the transfer portal.
I’d be curious to see the number of players that have transferred out of HBCUs since 2020 and were later drafted.
Very few players with potential next-level talent are sticking around at smaller schools when the portal allows them to prove themselves and immediately move along to a team in a big conference with a national TV deal - thus increasing exposure and their draft stock.