As you said at the end of your post, there isn't a lot of info either way.
But on one hand you have some info from people relatively in the know, at least compared to all of us, that suggests we are competitive and have good advantages in the NIL space. On the other hand, you have absolutely zero info that we're not. So I don't know if it's benefit of the doubt as much as it's not much of an opinion either way but a loose belief in the narrative that actually has some evidence, compared to a belief that is based on nothing at all.