[College Football] Bradford coming back, Sanchez going pro

if that's a risk he is willing to make, fine... doesn't make it smart. you never know what can happen, especially in a sport like football. he's staying behind to play behind a much younger and inexperienced OL, along with a much younger and inexperienced receiving corp.

his stats are almost guaranteed to decline from this year, and that could equal a $10-$15M difference, nevermind the risk of sustaining a serious injury.

 

the risk of him sustaining a serious injury is very small. i doubt he's going to be drafted #1 based on his stats. there are these things called combines and pre-draft workouts where scouts from these teams go and see how good a player really is. if it was all about your stats and/or record in college, joe flacco would have been undrafted and chris leak and josh huepel would've been first round picks.

i don't blame him at all for staying in school. if you're looking at it from a primarily financial standpoint, yeah there's a risk he may lose some money, but it doesn't make any sense to look at it solely from that standpoint when it's obvious that's not all that matters to some of these players.

 

To make that statement, you assume that all that matters in life is money. For many people, $14 MM guaranteed (and many more millions realistically) is more than enough to satisfy that part of his life. After that, he got an experience of a 4th year in college that could not have existed otherwise. He gets to play for a better team with a better chance to win going forward - that would be the case virtually all the time if you get drafted lower in the first round, as we see over and over in the NFL.

Maybe, just maybe, people value that over extra the millions. The first millions matter the most - the extra millions matter less.

 

So anyone who doesn't chase the money NOW is an idiot? Peyton & Eli Manning, Roy Williams, Brian Arapko, etc are all idiots? There must be quite a few idiots across the NFL.

 

where did i say he was an idiot? i just said it wasn't smart, and it isn't from a financial standpoint. from a risk/reward perspective, staying an extra year does little to further his career.

and orakpo is a senior.

 

Actually, you also said it was a "horrible" decision. I can agree with the statement that it isn't smart from a *financial* standpoint. But there's much more to life than finances. And it's not even clear that it isn't smart from a financial standpoint. Yes, for that first contract, he might end up making less (certainly wouldn't make any more) - but that's a short-term financial standpoint.

Peyton Manning, for example, has said he benefitted tremendously from the extra year of learning and mastering the game at the college level. Who knows if he becomes an all-time great if he leaves after his junior year. Maybe he leads to Indy to mediocrity and never quite "gets" it. We'll never know - but it may very well have benefitted him to the tune of tens of millions of dollars by staying that extra year and coming out not just as the #1 pick, but a highly polished, NFL-ready #1 pick. If Bradford can make himself a better quarterback with an extra year at OU as opposed to a year in Detroit, then it could very well have a long-term payoff.

 

and Orakpo had an injury plagued junior year. He would have never even sniffed the 1st round had he come out last year.

 

LOL if you think Bradford would have gone to the NFL combine. He would have conducted a workout on his home turf in optimum conditions, like every other top draft pick, making his workout look better by comparison.

 

All the top players go to the combine. They don't necessarily do most of the drills, but they do go and get measured and all that crap. Leinart, Vince, Cutler, etc all went.

 

Never heard of him

 

lol that you didn't see pre-draft workouts in my post. and while he would not have necessarily worked out at the combine he would have gone.

 

Congrats on finding a typo! You must be super-proud of yourself. Gold star for you.

 

Okay, so he shows up to the combine for a day. Going to the combine wouldn't have done much to move the needle, draft position wise, for Bradford. So what if he measures out as 6'2" tall instead of 6'4"? He's still sufficiently tall to play QB. So what if he scores a 10 on the Wonderlic? VY got a 6 and still got drafted at #3. (David Garrard and Donovan McNabb scored a 14. Dan Marino and Jim Kelly scored a 15.) And if he performs badly in team interviews? It'll be overlooked, because, hey, he's a winner and a leader, plus he's got that Heisman. The point is, don't overvalue the combine for non-workout related activities. It's a joke and potential waste of time when players show up and don't workout.

 

so what was it about leinart that made him drop after deciding to stay the extra year at usc? if bradford has a worse year statistically, i don't think the scouts will look at that as a reason why he shouldn't be drafted in the same place unless some sort of injury caused that issue.

if bradford doesn't suffer any major injury next season, he's not going to drop and hurt himself that much financially if ou isn't as good in 2009 and as a result bradford's stats aren't as prolific as this year.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/stewart_mandel/01/14/bradford.underclassmen/index.html


It's cool to stay in school.

That's the message that emanated out of Norman, Okla., on Wednesday when Heisman winner Sam Bradford stunned much of the football world by announcing his decision to return to Oklahoma next season.

Coupled with the return of Florida QB Tim Tebow and Texas QB Colt McCoy, both of whom previously announced their intent to put off the NFL, 2009 will mark the first time in history that the top-three Heisman vote-getters all return to the collegiate gridiron the following season.

As an unabashed advocate of the college game over the pros, let me be the first to say: That's awesome.

In announcing his decision Wednesday, Bradford said: "I've dreamed about playing at Oklahoma since I was little. My three years here have been three of the best years of my life. There's no need to cut this experience short."

Hardcore NFL fans (most notably those of the Detroit Lions) will likely scoff at those words. How, they might ask, could anyone in his right mind pass up tens of millions of dollars?

Easy: It was the best thing for Bradford.

While many media types, most notably ESPN draft guru Todd McShay, have had Bradford pegged as the no-brainer No. 1 pick for months, I had a sneaking suspicion since the Dec. 13 Heisman ceremony that A) They were wrong and B) That Bradford might come back. Asked by a reporter that night about Bradford's lofty draft stock, Sooners coach Bob Stoops got noticeably defensive.

"You don't know that," he said. "Those people who are projecting that have no idea about that. You guys are making something that isn't there unless you have got a draft projection back that I didn't. OK? So you're going on speculation that rarely is correct. If he's a top-five guy, he ought to go. If he isn't, he'll be a top-five guy at some point in his career."

When asked about the subject at a Jan. 3 press conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Bradford could not have sounded more apathetic.

"I'm not a big NFL guy," he said. "I don't watch a lot of it."

While Bradford threw for an astounding 4,720 yards, 50 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season, and while his physical abilities were evident to even the most untrained observer, it's easy to forget that he was only playing his second year of college football. Just being around him recently, both at the Heisman and during the week leading up to the title game, it was striking just how introverted and uncomfortable he is in front of the media -- and dealing with college publicity is a walk in the park compared with the constant scrutiny surrounding pro athletes.

Bradford can stand to get stronger, he has areas where he can improve, but most importantly, he'll be much better prepared for the rigors of the pros with another year's maturity.

While nobody stood at the podium Wednesday and said what exactly Bradford heard back from the NFL's draft advisory board, it's a pretty safe to assume they didn't say "No. 1 overall pick." CBSSports.com recently reported that "one Oklahoma source who had spoken to numerous NFL types said Bradford graded out somewhere between the No. 10 and No. 20 pick in the first round."

Judging by an exchange during Bradford's press conference Wednesday, draft position might not even have played that big a factor.

"Was there a point in the draft, whether it was No. 5 or No. 8 or whatever, where you would [have said], 'Man, I have to go?'" a reporter asked.

"No, to be honest," replied Bradford.

"So if you [could have] gone No. 3, you still would have come back?" the reporter asked.

"Most likely, yes," said Bradford.

Oklahoma wound up a big winner in the underclass derby this week. In addition to Bradford, tight end Jermaine Gresham, tackle Trent Williams and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy all decided to return for another year.

Judging by Stoops' comments Wednesday, it sounds like he made sure they knew well the experiences last year of juniors Malcolm Kelly, Reggie Smith and Curtis Lofton, none of whom went in the first round. Again, he indirectly criticized McShay and the other various draft "experts."

"Not one of them went where they were projected to go on TV," said Stoops. "They went where their [true] draft projection was. None of these people are in draft rooms. GMs are very secretive about it."

While no shortage of underclassmen around the country have gone the other direction this offseason, there has been a surprising amount of returnees among the nation's high-profile programs. In addition to Tebow, McCoy and the Oklahoma guys, USC safety Taylor Mays - projected by many to be the top defensive player taken -- announced he'll return for his senior season. (As of this writing, Trojans QB Mark Sanchez was expected to go pro.) LSU running back Charles Scott and tackle Ciron Black are coming back. Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes is said to be leaning that way as well.

"Hopefully it sends a clear message to other young guys out there that these guys value their experience in college," said Stoops. "Everyone says you can always come back [and get a degree]. That's easier said than done."

In terms of the football implications, the 2009 national title race is shaping up to include many or all of the same contenders as 2008. Of the four BCS-conference teams that finished in the top five this season, Florida and Texas return the most starters, but suddenly Oklahoma and USC are right in the mix as well.

The Sooners do lose four of the five starters from their dominant offensive line, as well as top receivers Juaqiun Iglesias and Manuel Johnson. It's unlikely that Bradford will put up the same gaudy passing numbers, but he might not have to what with a veteran defense and two solid running backs in DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown. It may even benefit Bradford for NFL types to see him operate without the benefit of such a loaded supporting cast.

USC, meanwhile, was looking at having to replace nearly its entire starting defense, so the return of a stalwart like Mays is a huge boost. Getting back Sanchez would have been even bigger, but another former top-rated high-school QB and one-time SEC starter, Mitch Mustain, is waiting in the wings.

As for the Heisman race ... wow. Normally, a new crop of stars rises to the head of the pack each season, but to do so next year, guys like Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead and Cal RB Jahvid Best are going to have to find a way to unseat the Bradford-McCoy-Tebow hegemony.

The sport just gets that much more fun when guys stay in school.

 

^from the tone of this article, maybe Bradford shouldn't go to the NFL at all if his heart isn't in it.

I like Stoops comments though, LMFAO - sure he only has the players best interests at heart.

 

Combine and pre-draft workouts tell scouts how good players actually are? Stats don't tell the entire story but their play on the field usually does. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule but I can almost guarantee you that a combine/pre-draft workout is not where the scouts look to see how good a player really is.

 

Mario Williams may disagree a little bit - he certainly benefitted quite a bit from the combine.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/columns/story?columnist=alipour_sam&id=3242617

 

Chris Johnson too. Yeah, he had a monster year but everybody knew he played for East Carolina. It wasn't until the combine where he REALLY stood out and teams started noticing him. His performance at the combine is what made him a first rounder.

 

I never said players don't improve/hurt their stock through the combine, some certainly do. But the combine does not tell scouts how good players are. And like I said, there are exceptions to every rule, but Vernon Davis and Vernon Gholston are 2 guys that come to mind.