UrinalCake
11-17-2016, 09:57 AM
Interesting discussion on Mike and Mike this morning about Oklahoma lineman Charles Walker. Basically he is a redshirt junior who hasn't played yet this season due to multiple concussions, but is projected to be a high draft pick. He's close to being healthy enough to play, but rather than coming back for the last two games and whatever bowl they get into, he's chosen instead to leave the team and prepare on his own for the draft. His reasoning I'm sure is that if he plays he risks getting another concussion, at which point his draft status would take a major plummet. Hard to blame him for wanting to protect his draft stock and the millions of dollars associated, although his coaches have criticized him for "quitting" on his team.
The discussion on M&M turned to whether more football players might choose to do the same. If they get to the end of the regular season and they're a projected high pick, they have the choice of either spending the next month practicing with the team and then playing in their bowl game (which is for all intents and purposes meaningless, unless you're in the playoffs) OR using it to specifically train towards the combine, which requires a different set of skills than they exhibit on the field. It makes some sense to choose the latter.
This of course got me thinking about Harry Giles, as we've had many similar conversations about him. Does he play and risk another injury, which would torpedo his draft stock? My opinion is that if he sits out the whole season he's going to fall more than most others seem to think, probably to the 10-15 range. Whereas if he plays and proves he's back to being himself, he could go top 5. Not a direct parallel to the football player, and the sports are very different from each other, but nevertheless these are interesting decisions that have the potential to shape how players treat their college careers in the future.
The discussion on M&M turned to whether more football players might choose to do the same. If they get to the end of the regular season and they're a projected high pick, they have the choice of either spending the next month practicing with the team and then playing in their bowl game (which is for all intents and purposes meaningless, unless you're in the playoffs) OR using it to specifically train towards the combine, which requires a different set of skills than they exhibit on the field. It makes some sense to choose the latter.
This of course got me thinking about Harry Giles, as we've had many similar conversations about him. Does he play and risk another injury, which would torpedo his draft stock? My opinion is that if he sits out the whole season he's going to fall more than most others seem to think, probably to the 10-15 range. Whereas if he plays and proves he's back to being himself, he could go top 5. Not a direct parallel to the football player, and the sports are very different from each other, but nevertheless these are interesting decisions that have the potential to shape how players treat their college careers in the future.