If the COVID-19 pandemic arrived a few months earlier, quarterback Joe Burrow would be fighting to make an NFL practice squad right now, as teammates laughed off stories of how he was one season away from making all his dreams come true.
Burrow has a Heisman Trophy and a $36 million contract with the Bengals because he made a well-timed leap from just another prospect to the biggest star in college football last season.
But the next Burrow will be much harder for the NFL to identify now that Big Ten and Pac-12 canceled football in the fall due to health concerns, paving the way for others to follow suit. It could wreak havoc on the 2021 NFL Draft, especially when evaluating late-bloomers.
“I’m sure they will pull the draft off, but it won’t be as detailed as what we are used to,” said Gil Brandt, who revolutionized scouting as a Cowboys executive. “It leaves more room for error.”
Focus shifted Tuesday toward salvaging a season in the spring, when the talent pool will be watered down: The expectation is a slew of projected first-rounders — and maybe mid- and late-rounders seizing an opportunity — will opt out to enter the draft.
“We are having these conversations right now and it’s different for everybody,” one agent said. “If there is going to be a spring season, it doesn’t make any sense for the guys at the top of the draft. They can only injure themselves. Then you get guys at the back of the draft who say, ‘I need this to show out because all these other guys are.’”
If the spring season gets canceled last minute, the repercussions will be felt over two draft classes: 2021 could get thinner and 2022 could get deeper, so impatience could be a virtue.
The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement stipulates the draft must be held by June 2. USA Today reported in July the league is unwilling to budge from its traditional late April placement to accommodate spring football.
Splitting the scouting combine into two — offense and defense — could help crowd control if social distancing still is in effect, but rotating prospects through each team’s physicals and face-to-face interviews isn’t quarantining.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah predicted on Twitter the 2021 combine “will be the most important one in league history” if there is no college football. Scouts preach “tape doesn’t lie,” but what happens when the film is outdated?
“We all watched 2019 and now we’ll go back to 2018. That’s what we are going to go off,” one NFL scout said. “This is going to be the hardest one because of the variables. The kids you worry about the most are from the small schools. He showed flashes and you are going off of what you think he was. This is what he could’ve been if he continued at that rate, but, uh, nope, can’t do that now.”
The scouting community calls that a “blind projection.” Big no-no.
“You are paid to get to the bottom of things and figure out all the red flags,” said Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy, a former NFL scout. “I think the more experienced scouting staffs will benefit the most from this because they are probably the most-connected across the country.”
Gathering character profiles becomes more difficult, too.
Powerhouse programs could have a scout invade campus for a week at a time — if they are even allowed in buildings. Scouts are finding Zoom-based homework calls to be “very vanilla.”
“The Marriott will be handing out a lot of points,” Brandt quipped.
The Senior Bowl, even if moved in conjunction with a delayed draft, could be the next college football game played.
“We really think our game could take on even greater importance with the lack of familiarity with the players as people,” Nagy said, “and if this is their first opportunity to show themselves on the field in bigger, faster, stronger mode.”
"football" - Google News
August 12, 2020 at 10:32AM
https://ift.tt/3gPV6lu
How no college football could affect future NFL Drafts - New York Post
"football" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2ST7s35
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "How no college football could affect future NFL Drafts - New York Post"
Posting Komentar