Draft experts share responsibility for underclassmen who are undrafted

[papasmurfbell]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/11/draft-experts-share-responsibility-for-underclassmen-who-are-undrafted/

 

While it’s unlikely any of the so-called (even if they are only called that by themselves) draft experts will acknowledge that the draft process is a crapshoot, with so many of the guys about whom they’ve been gushing never doing anything of significance at the next level, at least one of them realizes the flaws in the system.

Sort of.

ESPN’s Todd McShay has decided in the wake of the 2014 draft to wag a finger at those who had a role in cajoling underclassmen to give up remaining eligibility to enter the NFL, and to not be drafted.

“For those agents/media members selling ’2nd contract’ to these young men, what say you to the 36 of 98 underclassmen not drafted?”

Here’s one thing they/we should say: You shouldn’t have listened to made-for-TV draftniks like Todd McShay when deciding what to do.

McShay and those of his ilk routinely put ideas in the heads of players that have no relevance to what NFL teams actually think. Soon, McShay undoubtedly will unveil his incredibly-too-premature list of the top players for 2015, and he’ll include in that list — you guessed it — underclassmen.

Last year, McShay put Tennessee offensive lineman Antonio Richardson at No. 16 on the top 32 players for the 2014 draft. Inevitably, Richardson gave up his final year of eligibility at Tennessee to enter the draft. And Richardson wasn’t drafted.

Ditto for Florida cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy. Ranked at No. 19 last year by McShay, Purifoy left school early for the draft. And Purifoy wasn’t drafted.

Then there’s LSU defensive tackle Anthony Johnson. He was No. 22 on McShay’s top-32 list last May. Johnson left school early to enter the draft. And Johnson wasn’t drafted.

The fact that these guys left school early without being drafted isn’t entirely the fault of McShay. But it’s hypocritical, to say the very least, for McShay to chastise those who persuaded players to leave school early in order to put in years of service toward a second NFL contract when McShay is a sizable cog in the machine that ultimately supports the argument that these players should quit playing football for free.

Maybe McShay and the rest of the self-styled draft experts should quit ranking players who’ll have remaining eligibility beyond the coming football season. Maybe the self-styled draft experts should ignore underclassmen entirely, until the underclassmen have decided that the time has come to stop playing college football without the influence of draft experts who think they know a lot more than they do.

If McShay and the other so-called draft experts are going to act indignant when players leave school early and don’t get drafted, they need to get out of the business of scouting and ranking and discussing underclassmen. Some of them perhaps need to get out of the business of scouting and ranking and discussing all players, but that’s a rant for another day.

 

[ForceEight]

Just read this a few minutes ago and couldn't agree more. I'm not against the Kipers and McShays of the world (okay, I'm against McShay because he's a jerk), but I don't think he had any place in chastising agents or anyone else for misleading a college player. I like to think that the way Kiper started it--really just analyzing college players as thoroughly as possible and ranking them based on that--at heart was an honest thing to do. But it really feels like, since the draft became so publicized, and since the McShay, Mayock, etc. types got into the game, a really slimy and dishonest world.

[papasmurfbell]

[ravinmaniac52]

If there are any GMs or Asst. getting their info off the NFLN or ESPN they will not be around long.

[papasmurfbell]

That is not what is being said. These kids who don't know any better are being told to walk away from their eligibility and that they will be drafted and be stars. Over 1 third were not drafted so they were bascially tricked into throwing away a shot.

[ravinmaniac52]

Then these players need to find the right agent. If a player is good enough they will make it, if they aren't they won't.

 

You get a free ticket for a education, and there are times that all you have to do is show up. And with the way they pay rookies now, you are not going to make big bucks. The right people are not saying the right things to these kids.

[papasmurfbell]

How do you expect these kids to evaluate the people that are going to give them correct info. They and their families by and large have no experience dealing with this.

Free education. How about the guys the MD cut over the last month or so? I am sure Nick Faust really wants to find a new school leading into his Sr yr. I bet all those credits transfer.

[dc.]

Meanwhile... You can't hire an agent while in school. So how do you judge your potential when you can't even hire legitimate help?

[ravinmaniac52]

Then maybe they should be paid?

[papasmurfbell]

I am for paying players.

[Money]

That is not what is being said. These kids who don't know any better are being told to walk away from their eligibility and that they will be drafted and be stars. Over 1 third were not drafted so they were bascially tricked into throwing away a shot.

 

These kids were never told to simply stop going to class this year based off of a projection from an NFL draft "expert". They had to come out because they would have been academically ineligible to play next year. If they hadn't eliminated all options for themselves, they could have simply gone back to school when it was clear they wouldn't be drafted where someone said they would a year ago.

 

Exactly when did it become popular and acceptable to take zero accountability for one's actions???

[papasmurfbell]

That is far from true. Since these guys can't hire agents agents hire guys or slink around the players. They get in their ear saying you will be a first day pick or some other nonsense. Once player declare for the draft they lose their eligibility. Unlike the NBA where you can go through evaluation camps and the league gives you an estimate of draft position you are done. It is all in or all out. So when will the NCAA be accountable?

[Money]

That is far from true. Since these guys can't hire agents agents hire guys or slink around the players. They get in their ear saying you will be a first day pick or some other nonsense. Once player declare for the draft they lose their eligibility. Unlike the NBA where you can go through evaluation camps and the league gives you an estimate of draft position you are done. It is all in or all out. So when will the NCAA be accountable?

 

They didn't lose their eligibility when they declared for the draft. They lost their eligibility when they stopped attending class. Declaring for the draft was a forgone conclusion since it was the only option they left themselves.

[papasmurfbell]

http://www.ehow.com/list_6728395_nfl-draft-rules-underclassmen.html

 

 

Backing Out

• The standard draft petition includes a clause allowing the player to revoke the petition within three days of the NFL's draft declaration date. That means a player has until Jan. 18 to back out and return to college football. The NCAA, which writes the rules for college football, allows college players to "test the waters" like this one time while they are in school. However, if a player makes any kind of agreement, oral or written, to be represented by a player agent, or accepts anything from an agent or anyone working for an agent, the NCAA will void all his remaining eligibility. When Clarett lost his court case in 2004 and was thus barred from the draft, he was unable to return to college football for this reason.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6728395_nfl-draft-rules-underclassmen.html#ixzz31bptTG8J

Try again.

[Money]

You are missing the point. What good would it be if these kids could indeed go back. They wouldn't be able to play football because they stopped going to class over a year ago. Purifoy might have been ranked #19 overall by McShay (whose sole job is to simply speculate) over a year ago, but he was certainly not ranked that in January and could have backed out then if he had given himself an option. Purifoy also didn't help himself off the field either. I guess his troubles were also McShay's fault.

Because intercollegiate athletics is part of the fabric of the university, student-athletes must be committed to academic achievement and the pursuit of a degree.

Student-athletes must meet academic standards throughout their careers on campus to remain eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics. Member institutions in each division create academic standards specific to that division’s goals.

In Division I, student-athletes must complete 40 percent of the coursework required for a degree by the end of their second year. They must complete 60 percent by the end of their third year and 80 percent by the end of their fourth year. Student-athletes are allowed five years to graduate while receiving athletically related financial aid. All Division I student-athletes must earn at least six credit hours each term to be eligible for the following term and must meet minimum grade-point average requirements that are related to an institution’s own GPA standards for graduation.

http://www.ncaa.org/remaining-eligible-academics

[papasmurfbell]

No you aren't grasping the point. Most schools are not even in session as of Jan 18. There are no classes. If there was a fair evaluation before classes start in Feb and a kid is told you might not get drafted you should go back and they do there is no harm. But the NFL allows players to declare Jan 15 and they can't change their minds after the 18th. That is nuts.

[Money]

Again dude...these kids haven't been going to class for well over a year now (if at all).

 

Poor kid. Who's fault is this? McShay's???

 

 

"According to a Gainesville Police Department report, Purifoy was a passenger in a car that was stopped for a violation of the right of way at 12:05 a.m. ET Sunday. The officer's report noted that one passenger threw a marijuana cigarette out of the window and that he observed marijuana residue in the car.

The officer also saw a bag containing 2.5 grams of marijuana by the car's emergency brake.

[papasmurfbell]

So you can speak for everyone of them? You have amazing mind reading ability. Can I take you down to Maryland Live and you can tell me what everyone has?

[Money]

These poor, poor little angels. Corrupted by the big, bad draft "experts". They just wanted to be the best possible student-athletes they could possibly be and that dream was snatched away from them. They were McKiperized.

 

 

RiGodDamnDiculous if you ask me.

[papasmurfbell]

Of course most of them didn't but they are also being preyed upon by people who have much more experience and knowledge of the situation. The NCAA is a one way deal.

[papasmurfbell]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/14/mcshay-issues-a-2015-mock-draft-with-underclassmen-in-it/

 

 

McShay issues a 2015 mock draft, with underclassmen in it

On Sunday, ESPN’s in-house leverage against a Mel Kiper contractual dispute (also known as Todd McShay) wagged a finger at those responsible for underclassmen who left school early for the draft — but who weren’t drafted.

I noted the hypocrisy of McShay’s sanctimony, pointing out that he and other draft experts include underclassmen in projections and analyses occurring long before the underclassmen must decide whether to leave school early. The publication of mock drafts nearly a year early plants a seed in the mind of the player who now regards himself as a first-round pick. It also provides plenty of ammunition to agents, family members, and friends who are in position to influence the player to quit playing football for free.

Last year, three of the players listed in McShay’s top 32 prospects immediately after the 2013 draft ultimately left school early, but weren’t drafted.

While the opinions expressed by folks like McShay nearly a year before the next draft aren’t the sole reason for players to leave school early when perhaps they shouldn’t, it’s undoubtedly a potential factor in the dynamic that begins to unfold the instant an underclassmen sees that one of the ESPN draft experts has pegged him as a potential first-round pick. The only way to make it not a factor is to stop doing it.

But McShay has done it again, issuing a mock draft less than a week after the most recent draft. McShay’s mock draft apparently includes underclassmen, given the presence of Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston in the photo accompanying the link to the ESPN Insider content (sorry, ESPN, but we’re not paying for the privilege of reading McShay’s mock draft, or anything else you’re not posting for free). The addition of a disclaimer by McShay that it’s “way too early” is, as a practical matter, the act of declaring “I hope this toothpaste stays in the tube” while removing the cap and squeezing hard.

Even if the kids on the list are able to ignore the presence of their names among McShay’s projections, others they know will notice. And they’ll inevitably say something. And it will be impossible for those kids to not embark on the 2014 season thinking that their status as potential first-round picks means that they’ddefinitely be selected in a seven-round draft. At a time when more and more people are resisting the idea of playing college football for free, who could blame them for leaving early?

If McShay is truly concerned about underclassmen leaving school early and not being drafted, he can easily address the situation. He can refuse to include underclassmen in any mock drafts before the they are certified to enter the draft early.

Yes, some in the audience want to see the underclassmen included in the projections. But if McShay is going to climb onto a soapbox after multiple underclassmen give up one or more years of eligibility and aren’t drafted, he needs to admit that he has a role in that process — and he needs to insist to his editors and producers that any and all projections that potentially could influence underclassmen should end.

 

[ForceEight]

McShay is a toolbag.

 

And you guys are both right, by the way. Just kind of arguing two different things. Yes, the NCAA and NFL are screwing them sideways ten times over, and yes, they aren't really helping themselves either. It's a wildly unorganized and (apparently) uneducated field of games. It's a shame.

 

The issue at hand is the fact that someone like McShay thinks he's in the right by having something to say about it.

[Money]

Mike Florio is on a rant. Here's another article where he's ripping draft grades and specifically mentioning McShay and Kiper. He's actually urging people to not care about draft grades. Really? Who gives a shit?

 

I'm beginning to think he must have caught McShay and Kiper tag-teaming his wife or something.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/15/the-pft-insert-year-draft-grades/

[papasmurfbell]

Lots of people think the grades are stupid. Really they are. They mean nothing until 3 yrs from now when you can give a real grade. When the Ravens drafted Kindle and Cody it was thought of as a brilliant move. Now it is seen as foolish.

[Money]

Lots of people think the grades are stupid. Really they are. They mean nothing until 3 yrs from now when you can give a real grade. When the Ravens drafted Kindle and Cody it was thought of as a brilliant move. Now it is seen as foolish.

I agree for sure, but why rant about it? Who the hell cares if others enjoy reading them? Obviously there are many who do.