12-19-2016, 10:18 AM
Why is this shocking to many? He is an RB, so odds of getting injured in a way that would impact the draft status are much higher than QB.
I would think many coaches would love to play in a bowl game that only featured players that would return for the next season. Let the seniors attend and cheer on the next crew. Imagine if the bowl game didn't count toward eligibility, then all of those that redshirted could play. Then those bowl games might actually be meaningful.
I watched the first bowl games this weekend and the commentators went on and on about how attending these bowl games is such a treat for the young men as they get to see other parts of the USA they wouldn't get to see if they were not on the football team. It was all too much to believe, as most of these young men will be able to go to Las Vegas or New Orleans with relative ease at any other point in their lives.
The bowl games and those senior bowl type experiences used to mean a lot when not all of the schools had great "tape". Now that almost every D1 game is televised the bowl games don't really provide that value now. Get dinged in the Sun Bowl then run a 4.61 40 in the combine and his draft status falls rapidly. Go to the combine and run a 4.48 40 and he moves right up to the top.
FWIW - Luck didn't play in the Sun Bowl either. At the time his finger injury was the reason, but if the Sun Bowl were the Super Bowl I am guessing he would have played. Luck and the program decided it was best for him to skip the Sun Bowl for his long term career prospects, so not that different really.
I would think many coaches would love to play in a bowl game that only featured players that would return for the next season. Let the seniors attend and cheer on the next crew. Imagine if the bowl game didn't count toward eligibility, then all of those that redshirted could play. Then those bowl games might actually be meaningful.
I watched the first bowl games this weekend and the commentators went on and on about how attending these bowl games is such a treat for the young men as they get to see other parts of the USA they wouldn't get to see if they were not on the football team. It was all too much to believe, as most of these young men will be able to go to Las Vegas or New Orleans with relative ease at any other point in their lives.
The bowl games and those senior bowl type experiences used to mean a lot when not all of the schools had great "tape". Now that almost every D1 game is televised the bowl games don't really provide that value now. Get dinged in the Sun Bowl then run a 4.61 40 in the combine and his draft status falls rapidly. Go to the combine and run a 4.48 40 and he moves right up to the top.
FWIW - Luck didn't play in the Sun Bowl either. At the time his finger injury was the reason, but if the Sun Bowl were the Super Bowl I am guessing he would have played. Luck and the program decided it was best for him to skip the Sun Bowl for his long term career prospects, so not that different really.