[GK3]

IMHO he left early realizing where he could make money. Also with his injury history any injury in another year of college ball, even if minor, would create questions. Why risk it?

What your rhetorical question omits is this:  " . . . when there is no prospect of being on a good team - let alone a really good one - at Stanford the next season?"  That is another big problem with the decline of the program under Shaw - players with eligibility are bolting and not sticking around for another good/great run.

I agree it is a problem, but a small one compared to the other problems we have. Given the sharp and recent memories of several guys who elected to play another year (at Stanford and elsewhere), got hurt, and lost their NFL career opportunity, athletes that have any kind of an acceptable NFL draft expectation are going to leave. This is also the advice they are getting from their peers and gurus. Andrew Luck types are totally the exception in the "new" college football. In Bucks We Trust. This is especially true of players who had a good year, got their degree, and have generated some draft "buzz". If a player doesn't have a degree yet, believes he can make a better showing next year, and has no current draft prospects, returning can make sense. In those cases, how good he expects the team to be may matter. However, these are usually more marginal players. Guys like Mills make a big enough splash that risking another year in college makes no sense. I didn't think he would get drafted. Too small a sample size, injury history. In today's world, that meant little.

Exactly!  Mills was and is one big hit away from no NFL career.  He did the smart thing and grabbed the money and ran.  Bryce Love is the poster boy for coming and playing one too many years.  If you have NFL talent you are rolling the dice every time you suit up for a college game.

[GK3]

IMHO he left early realizing where he could make money. Also with his injury history any injury in another year of college ball, even if minor, would create questions. Why risk it?

What your rhetorical question omits is this:  " . . . when there is no prospect of being on a good team - let alone a really good one - at Stanford the next season?"  That is another big problem with the decline of the program under Shaw - players with eligibility are bolting and not sticking around for another good/great run.

I agree it is a problem, but a small one compared to the other problems we have. Given the sharp and recent memories of several guys who elected to play another year (at Stanford and elsewhere), got hurt, and lost their NFL career opportunity, athletes that have any kind of an acceptable NFL draft expectation are going to leave. This is also the advice they are getting from their peers and gurus. Andrew Luck types are totally the exception in the "new" college football. In Bucks We Trust. This is especially true of players who had a good year, got their degree, and have generated some draft "buzz". If a player doesn't have a degree yet, believes he can make a better showing next year, and has no current draft prospects, returning can make sense. In those cases, how good he expects the team to be may matter. However, these are usually more marginal players. Guys like Mills make a big enough splash that risking another year in college makes no sense. I didn't think he would get drafted. Too small a sample size, injury history. In today's world, that meant little.

Exactly!  Mills was and is one big hit away from no NFL career.  He did the smart thing and grabbed the money and ran.  Bryce Love is the poster boy for coming and playing one too many years.  If you have NFL talent you are rolling the dice every time you suit up for a college game.