Sark's Bama offense didn't often substitute the first team receivers out until the game was well out of hand, and he rarely went 10 or 00 personnel (4 or 5 WRs); he'd actually go two TEs or two RBs more often than 10 personnel. With at most three WRs on the field most of the time, and with only four or maybe five guys playing those three spots, arguably the roster allocation of WRs should be smaller than in the past.
For various reasons, Herman struggled to fill his classes with elite WRs. He'd land one here or there like Whittington or Bru, but for the most part, he'd miss on guys to Bama, Ohio State, OU, LSU, A&M, and even fucking TCU, and to make up for that, he'd throw numbers at the position later in the cycle (including taking two fucking JAGs as transfers). So now we have too many WRs who won't be difference making contributors anytime soon or ever, and a handful of the ones who make a difference could leave after next year (Moore, Whittington, Smith).
So the fix is to take fewer WRs in 2022, right?
I actually don't think so. I think you take as many studs as possible (4-5) in 2022 to finally fix this position going forward since the real issue isn't raw numbers but a lack of elite talent that'll likely be around for more than one year, and then you can start taking 2-3 elite guys per class once the position group is stabilized.