[CTcard]

If you assume that Meeks would have had zero improvement in another year, then it made sense to enter the draft. But I don't assume zero improvement. Rather the contrary -- it seems to me that the natural assumption for a guy that age is that he should be improving every year. 

If you assume that he wouldn't have received much playing time this fall, then it made sense to enter the draft. But that wouldn't be my assumption. Meeks started every game last year. I would assume that he would have played a lot this year.

Nothing is set in stone, but it seems clear Meeks would have been a 2018 starter and most-every-down player had he returned. 

It's not clear he would have played at safety, not clear he wants to play at safety, and not clear that's necessarily where the NFL would want him. Reports out of Jacksonville seem to be that they are bringing him in as a nickel back - though of course they may not really know just what they are going to do with him yet. 

He's played a lot, it's not as if NFL teams didn't know about him, so I think it is probably 50/50 whether he could improve his draft stock or not - and probably unlikely he could change it a lot. [Remember they don't necessarily draft you on how good you are, but more on how good they can imagine you might become - though it's not quite the NBA on that scale.] The knock on him seems to be burst and fluidity rather than straight line speed or basic athleticism measurements. He did have pretty good results at the combine - and while his pro-day 40 comes with the general skepticism of pro day times, it was pretty good. 

Whether coming back to school or not would be a good idea is really more a question of what Meeks thinks of school than anything else. That's not a small thing, but the value of school and the value of a degree depends strongly on an individuals' own values and current situation in life. 

[CTcard]

If you assume that Meeks would have had zero improvement in another year, then it made sense to enter the draft. But I don't assume zero improvement. Rather the contrary -- it seems to me that the natural assumption for a guy that age is that he should be improving every year. 

If you assume that he wouldn't have received much playing time this fall, then it made sense to enter the draft. But that wouldn't be my assumption. Meeks started every game last year. I would assume that he would have played a lot this year.

Nothing is set in stone, but it seems clear Meeks would have been a 2018 starter and most-every-down player had he returned. 

It's not clear he would have played at safety, not clear he wants to play at safety, and not clear that's necessarily where the NFL would want him. Reports out of Jacksonville seem to be that they are bringing him in as a nickel back - though of course they may not really know just what they are going to do with him yet. 

He's played a lot, it's not as if NFL teams didn't know about him, so I think it is probably 50/50 whether he could improve his draft stock or not - and probably unlikely he could change it a lot. [Remember they don't necessarily draft you on how good you are, but more on how good they can imagine you might become - though it's not quite the NBA on that scale.] The knock on him seems to be burst and fluidity rather than straight line speed or basic athleticism measurements. He did have pretty good results at the combine - and while his pro-day 40 comes with the general skepticism of pro day times, it was pretty good. 

Whether coming back to school or not would be a good idea is really more a question of what Meeks thinks of school than anything else. That's not a small thing, but the value of school and the value of a degree depends strongly on an individuals' own values and current situation in life.