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Why should seniors have all the fun?
LSU coach Les Miles said at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, on Wednesday that he plans on extending invitations the Tigers’ Pro Days to juniors interested in entering the NFL Draft.
In a nola.com report, Miles said allowing juniors to gather intelligence on their draft stock makes sense:
“There were 96 players who elected (to leave college early after last season) for the (NFL) draft and 30 of them went undrafted,” Miles said Wednesday here at the annual SEC business meetings. “Think about that one.”
Miles has, and he agrees with Alabama coach Nick Saban that his players, especially underclassmen, need more accurate information from the NFL whether to enter the draft or stay in school.
Though the Tigers only had one underclassman (offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins, who went to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round) enter this year’s NFL Draft, Miles said the more information juniors have, the better.
Arkansas coach Bret Bielema agrees. He said there’s too much misinformation out in the NFL Draft world already, so juniors should have scouts see them in person:
“I had a junior last season that I saw during the year that was being rated the number one inside lineman in the draft,” Bielema said. “I’m like ‘What?’
“I called the person (a TV draft analyst) who had this ranking. I could tell very quickly he hadn’t watched a great deal of what was going on.
“Overnight, the player dropped from first to the middle of the pack. On draft day, he wasn’t even listed in the top 20.”
If more schools jump on board with the junior Pro Days, it will be interesting to see if more or less juniors try to make the jump to the NFL in the future.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
