I guaran damn tee you, if Pope only had to add 2/3 players to build a roster instead of 10, there would be a couple of the top guys. He could not afford to drop serious money or over pay for 2 players and leave him with no money to sign the other 8 guys. It is simple math, X numbers of dollars to spend on 10 players, it would be totally different if he had the same money and only had to spread it between 2 guys.
Lets say the had $4 million to spend (just as a reference point I have no clue how much they had / have) If Pope was to spend $2-2.5 million on 2 guys, now he only has $1.5-2 million to spend on the remaining 8 guys. Where as if he only had to sign 2/3 with the same $4 million, well the amount per player would allow him to be very selective and really go after the upper price guys, the Johnell Davis type players.
Pope was handicapped with having to replace an entire roster and in a very short time to do it. He has done very well, some of you need to check yourself, no coach could have signed 10 players with the money available to him and signed all top 10 portal guys. The math just doesn't add up.
it is like a salary cap FFL draft, if you blow 80% of your cap on 2 players, you are stuck with all $1 players to fill the other spots.