Every year around this time, as we get closer and closer to the college bowl games that actually mean something, the same debate seems to arise. The only difference from year to year is who the debate is centered around. Should kids in college stay in school to finish out their careers? Or should they jump at the chance to be drafted and go to the NFL?
A trend that has grown over the past decade is kids skipping bowl games in order to focus solely on preparing for the NFL draft and their professional careers. Each individual situation is obviously unique, but it seems like, for the most part, no matter the player or team, people usually stand on one side of the argument or the other, and are not very open to changing their stance.
First, you have the fan who says that a player skipping their bowl game to focus on the draft is a bad teammate, and somehow is abandoning his team and demonstrating a fatal character flaw that he will never be able to separate himself from.
Next, you have the fan who says that each player should look out for the best interests of themselves, and playing college football is really nothing more than basically playing minor league football, and to hell with the team and school. The players aren't being paid while playing in college, and the only thing that matters is setting yourself up for a career as a professional football player.
Usually, these feelings are based upon a number of things. A fan of Clemson might feel as though a player is putting himself before the team if he decides to skip their bowl game and focus on the NFL. However, a fan of a team who could potentially have the first pick in the NFL draft and has their eyes set on that same player, could be totally in favor of him skipping the bowl game, and they will usually cite rare cases of players being injured during bowl games to illustrate their point about how important it is to look out for yourself before anything else.
I know it isn't as interesting to stand in the middle of any debate, but I have to say that in this case, that is exactly where I stand. You can't make one blanket statement about focusing on the NFL or playing out the season for your school and apply it to every player. Each circumstance is different, and I hate that people want to come out and criticize these kids for making the decision that the kid believes is best. To illustrate this point, I want to take a look at four different examples from this year.
Since this is the NFL, and it always seems to be about the quarterbacks, I'll start there. If Justin Herbert decided to leave school and enter the draft, he would probably have been the top quarterback taken, and the chances of him going in the top five overall were pretty good. The quarterback class this year is projected to be somewhat weak compared to what the class could possibly look like next year, so Herbert could actually be hurting his draft stock by returning to school. But, do you know who that should be most important to? Justin Herbert. Not "Joe Expert," the fan sitting on their couch critiquing Oregon highlights on YouTube who has never actually seen Herbert play or played a snap of football in his or her life.
Oregon finished the regular season with an 8-4 record, and will play Michigan State in the Redbox Bowl on New Year's Eve. The Ducks ended the season in fourth place in the Big 12 North division. They did win their final two regular season games, and could finish off a nice season with a win over Michigan State next week. Herbert could also be in line for a big senior season in 2019, and maybe even a Heisman Trophy. Why does someone want to fault him for that? Even though the quarterback class may be stronger next year, maybe another big year from Herbert will put him at the top of that class. He wants to go back to school for his senior season, so go ahead and do that. If that's what he wants, then he shouldn't get any grief for doing it.
Since Herbert is going back to school, the new top quarterback in this year's class, at least at this point, seems to be Dwayne Haskins from Ohio State. Haskins is coming off a redshirt sophomore season in which he threw for 4,580 yards and 47 touchdowns. In Ohio State's final two games, against rival Michigan, and in the Big 10 title game against Northwestern, Haskins threw 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions. It doesn't get much better than that. He has the size and arm strength of an NFL quarterback, and while he has not declared that he is entering the draft yet, it appears that will be the case, and if he does so, it also appears that he has a good chance to be the first quarterback taken. If he wants to turn pro and get his money, then he is more than welcome to do so. If a college student who is an engineering major is offered a job while still in college and decides to take it, I don't hear anyone criticizing them for doing so. Why then should Haskins be criticized for doing just that in his chosen field? The answer is, he shouldn't be criticized.
Now that we have looked at both sides of the coin on the offensive side of the ball, we have a nice example this year of the same thing on the other side of the ball as well. Deandre Baker is a cornerback out of Georgia University who won the Jim Thorpe award as the best defensive back in the country this year. Following the SEC Championship Game, which Georgia lost to Alabama, Baker originally said that he would play in the Sugar Bowl against Texas, but he has since changed his mind, and will now skip the game to prepare for the draft.
Some people will look at this decision and say that Baker is putting himself before the team, and try to turn his decision into a character flaw that will live with him for the rest of his life. If you believe that, then I'm sorry, but you sound clueless. Would Baker have decided to play in Georgia's bowl game if they had won the SEC title? He probably would have, but we can't say for sure. The point is though, it doesn't matter to the masses out there speaking about something they really know nothing about. Baker will most likely be a first round pick, and could actually end up going pretty high in the first round. With a selection that high comes a nice paycheck, and just like Haskins, Baker has every right to choose to go that route.
Finally, I want to look at Chase Winovich, a linebacker from Michigan who has decided to put off a surgery that he will need to undergo until after the Peach Bowl, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL scouting combine. While the exact nature of the surgery is unclear, he has been told that he can play through the pain for now, and have the surgery in a few months. Is this a good decision? Well, in order to answer that question, you have to look at it from his point of view.
Right now, Winovich appears to have a second or third round grade from draft gurus. Unlike Baker or Haskins, he will probably not hear his name called in the first round. Therefore, because it is not anticipated that he will be a day one pick, he likely will not be starting from the outset of training camp next summer, and might have to focus on doing things other than he did in school to earn a roster spot. Guys like that usually have to display an attitude and willingness to outplay their natural abilities, so putting off surgery for a few months might make a good impression on an NFL team and demonstrate just that personality. Then again, maybe playing while not fully healthy will prove to be a setback and hinder his chances to perform to the best of his abilities during the pre-draft process. Right now, we don't know what will happen. Winovich is willing to bet on himself and play through some pain in order for it to pay off in the long run, and we should commend him for that.
The point of all this is, fans shouldn't label kids based on the decisions they make about their futures. Everyone views the potential path to the NFL differently, and we should see that and accept it. In the end, if kids are talented enough to play professionally, that will most likely happen. The same can be said for the kid who leaves college early to begin their career as an engineer.
The NFL draft process is one of the toughest things to predict in all of sports. If you want to look back on this draft 10 years from now, it will be easy to judge Herbert or Haskins or Baker or Winovich in hindsight. You can make those same judgments on Monday morning after watching your favorite team win or lose. You can say that you would have made a different decision if you already know the outcome, but you can't put yourself into any given situation in real time and know what will end up being right or wrong.
In the eyes of some kids, the college experience might be most important. If you ask another kid, maybe playing in the NFL is what they really want. Don't stand on a soapbox and preach like you know how these kids should decide their futures, because you really don't. As is the case many times in the sports world, sometimes it is tough for people to set their fandom aside when evaluating a situation, but this is one of the most important times of the year to be able to do that. And if you can't, then I'm sure these guys won't care what you think anyway.
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