I think that there is pattern for new coins, it's either they are the next hype or will be the next Ethereum killer.
When I was new this was already the trend in 2017, I can't remember how many projects claims to be the Ethereum killer but no one beats Ethereum and on the contrary, those projects suddenly die or maybe still in the cryptospace existing but nowhere near the success that they claim to be in the beginning.
Even BNB was touted to be the next Ethereum, yeah it enjoyed success because of CZ but still though in terms of market cap and volume, no altcoin can match ETH, maybe besides USDT but that is another story.
Solana was hyped once, but after the network outages and the FTX collapse, I don't think it will bring back the attention of mainstream investors ever again. Replacing Ethereum as the dominant platform for decentralized applications is very unlikely, especially when SOL is centralized. Basically, any ETH contender these days is centralized. Besides, ETH has first-mover advantage. In other words, it's impossible to take its place as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
At least, we have many options to choose from. As long as decentralization prevails in the long run, nothing else matters. Just my opinion