Fournette & McAffrey

[Dim Bulb]

I don't blame them, if I were them I'd do the same thing. But the thing that I wonder about is if they have teammates that are marginal players that might or might not get drafted by the NFL, aren't they being selfish by not playing?

Assume you are a WR at LSU that is on the bubble for the draft. With Fournette playing, defenses will have to play straight up, and you will get more chances at man coverage. Without Fournette, the safeties will move back maybe into a two deep and you won't have as many opportunities. So Fournette (or McAffrey) being out changes your opportunities. On the biggest stage these marginal players might ever have in even a Sun Bowl or Toilet Bowl, their "big name" teammate essentially deserts them.

Of course I am leaving out the fact that LSU can't really throw the ball to save its life this year...

[slag]

Re-emphasizes the hypocrisy of "student"-athlete.

[Dim Bulb]

Agree

Re-emphasizes the hypocrisy of "student"-athlete.

But then I thought, even if Fournette and McAffrey received more than whatever the boosters are giving them now, wouldn't they do the same thing? If they got paid $5K a year (or some amount) and that was uniform for all student athletes, why wouldn't they make the same choice, because whatever they get from the NFL will surely be more than whatever the university or NCAA finally ponies up.

[slag]

No doubt ... there are certainly some NFL calibre college players with an interest in a degree ... but the charade for many of them is spotlighted by the business decision being made here.

Not that my cynical/realistic take on big time college sports has an issue with it.

[PackWest]

The Scouting process takes place year round for several years before a college player hits his final bowl game

In theory, top guys skipping could hurt the performance of lower-rated guys, but that's just one small piece of the multi-millions teams invest in assessing college players. The scouts also get to see how that player handles adversity and handles being the focus of the opponent without Fournette et al on the field.

I think even the seasoned lawyer types around here would have a tough road in establishing harm/damages for the teammates that didn't opt out of the bowl.

[McCarthy12]

They must have watched the Fiesta Bowl last year.

[Loki]

No worries for the wideout

If he looks good in shorts at the combine and has a decent senior bowl game, Howie will draft him.