Pro Day 3/28

[appstatealum]

Exford Texans
Hayes Jaguars
Stout, Moore Jets
Duck Bears

Hopefully McMurry gets invited to a rookie camp or signs with somebody soon.

McMurray and DoMo should get some camp invites. Not sure about Flory.... As good as he was on the field, he struggled at Proday.

[appstatealum]

What hurt Jalin was that you could tell his ankle was not 100% on Proday. I'm sure that worried a lot of scouts and many just figured they will take their chances in Free Agency

My connection told me that Jalin did not look 100% at all. It is hard to really tell if you are not on the field standing just a few feet away. Said Moore was not nearly as explosive as he was during the season.

Oh yeah, everybody there could tell he didn't look 100%. As I was walking around, I heard a few scouts comment how they were surprised he was doing the things he was after that injury, but you could tell he was nursing it in different drills.

[AppStFan1]

Exford Texans
Hayes Jaguars
Stout, Moore Jets
Duck Bears

Hopefully McMurry gets invited to a rookie camp or signs with somebody soon.

McMurray and DoMo should get some camp invites. Not sure about Flory.... As good as he was on the field, he struggled at Proday.

Good to see them all get a contract. Figured they would. Exford got a contract at pro day while Hayes is better than Duck so figured he would. Glad Duck indeed got a contract because there was question after his workout how many teams would sign him. Stout deserves the contract. So glad his play overcame his size. Jalin should make the PS or 53 in NY for sure.

[AppStFan1]

Undrafted players you may have heard of: James Harrison, Kurt Warner, Wes Welker, Adam Vinateri, Tony Romo, Arian Foster, Antonio Gates, John Randle, Warren Moon, etc... Giv’em Hell Jalin and Duck.

Jalin only fell because he was not 100%. He would have gone if he were healthy. I think many started to realize his long rehab caused the fall. The rest had no shot but yes now they get a chance to improve and make a roster. Anything can happen once they get to camp. We find out how bad some guys want it after they went from expecting draft pick to just being a free agent. Give 'Em Hell! Pulling for all these guys. I fully expect Hayes and Moore to make it and if Exford, Stout, and Duck do really well on special teams they may as well.

[hapapp]

The most drafted position was CB. Everyone said Duck came out because next year's class was strong, appears this year was as well.

[Yosef84]

It’s been said for years that for a running back it’s probably better going the UDFA route. You kind of pick a team with a need rather than having to compete as a draftee on a team full of backs

You beat me to it. I know it is good publicity to get drafted and it helps the ego, but I think it could wind up being a positive for these guys to go UNFA rather than in the 6th or 7th round. I'm praying for Jalin's ankle. I really want to see that young man show his stuff and get his best shot in the NFL. I think he absolutely has what it takes. Congratulations to all of these guy! Thank you for all you've done and I hope you continue to represent our alma mater in the League.

[Rekdiver]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

[ASU3432Mi]

J-e-t-s. Jets, Jets, Jets! Congrats Jalin and Myquon. You can make this roster.

[AppStFan1]

The most drafted position was CB. Everyone said Duck came out because next year's class was strong, appears this year was as well.

He thought this class was not as strong and while it was not strong up top we clearly saw teams felt it was really good in terms of depth. Next year looks stronger at the top but you never know how many juniors will declare or how things will go down. A lot can happen between now and then.

[AppStFan1]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a sign that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

[ah59396]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a sign that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

When you say “not listening to the staff and doing his own thing”, are you referring to the staff that recruited him, then after his junior year, jumped ship to Louisville to make more money?

It’s like they just went and did their own thing regardless of what was best for the guys they recruited. Weird!

Clifton made the decision that’s best for him. I won’t pretend to know his situation and I find it interesting that others seem to “know” more than he does about himself. Go get yours Clifton!

[AppStFan1]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a sign that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

When you say “not listening to the staff and doing his own thing”, are you referring to the staff that recruited him, then after his junior year, jumped ship to Louisville to make more money?

It’s like they just went and did their own thing regardless of what was best for the guys they recruited. Weird!

Clifton made the decision that’s best for him. I won’t pretend to know his situation and I find it interesting that others seem to “know” more than he does about himself. Go get yours Clifton!

I don't know his exact family financial situation but from what a coach told me he just decided during the season that he would come out early because he saw his name projected to get drafted, had agents telling he would, and everyone around him pushed him to.

My friend told me that our coaches had no clue he was even debating going pro. They called to beg him when he announced on Twitter.

With how today's climate is usually a player who wants to go pro early should tell the coaches after his sophomore season that he wants to test waters. Then they let that player participate in the junior pro day with rising seniors to get measured and get feedback from scouts. The coaches then tell NFL teams the player may want to go pro and get feedback to give the player. The coaches make sure all 32 teams take a look at the player. Everyone is aware and ideally the player has a lot of info to help him make a very educated decision. Duck did not do any of this and blindsided everyone.

I was told that our staff still did not bash him and said nothing but good things about him. I just hope he does not blame them or anyone else and was prepared for this. The issue with Clifton here is that he lied and hid the fact he was debating this so nobody could help him, he does not have a degree, and then he apparently went to go get some fancy training that did him no good.

I know it sounds like I'm crapping on him but I'm not. I'm telling the ugly truth here. I hope he makes it because he is a good player who I think gets drafted and for sure carves out a career with another year of development.

The sad thing here is that he is one of 49 early entries who did not get drafted. Many of them made a bad choice so he is not the only one.

[Rekdiver]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a signc that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

. I sent my kids to college to get paid. One more season wouldn’t make any difference. He would be a late round draftee at best and is on a roster now. He has a shot. Duck, Moore and any of the others who didn’t finish their degree can always get one. Clifton thought this was his best shot. He may have thought, “what if I get injured like Jalin” I hear what I are saying but I think u are off base on this one.

[AppStFan1]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a signc that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

. I sent my kids to college to get paid. One more season wouldn’t make any difference. He would be a late round draftee at best and is on a roster now. He has a shot. Duck, Moore and any of the others who didn’t finish their degree can always get one. Clifton thought this was his best shot. He may have thought, “what if I get injured like Jalin” I hear what I are saying but I think u are off base on this one.

If these kids are worried about injury this much they need to just quit playing football. Can't live life scared of an injury.

These guys have to make the team to get paid. The problem is I heard he thought he was going in 3-5 and was completely shocked that he got snubbed by the combine and was undrafted. If Duck knew for a fact that this all would have happened he would have stayed in school. Hopefully he shrugs off the disappointment and uses it as fuel to make the team. Many won't do that and they will get cut. He could make the Bears roster. I hope he does.

49 early entries went undrafted and I bet 40 of them would come back if they were able to. I also bet that all 49 of them thought they were getting picked for sure.

[AppSt94]

As wired in to sources and outright knowledge of all things football, why didn’t you call Duck yourself and tell him he wasn’t going in rounds 3-5? He probably would have listened to you?

[hapapp]

Duck did what he thought was in his best interest and we won't know if it was a mistake until later. If he makes a roster then he will certainly feel he made the right choice. I do have to believe, however, he wouldn't have come out if he knew he wouldn't have been drafted. He's overcome doubts before, hopefully he will do so once again.

[AppGrad78]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a sign that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

When you say “not listening to the staff and doing his own thing”, are you referring to the staff that recruited him, then after his junior year, jumped ship to Louisville to make more money?

It’s like they just went and did their own thing regardless of what was best for the guys they recruited. Weird!

Clifton made the decision that’s best for him. I won’t pretend to know his situation and I find it interesting that others seem to “know” more than he does about himself. Go get yours Clifton!

I don't know his exact family financial situation but from what a coach told me he just decided during the season that he would come out early because he saw his name projected to get drafted, had agents telling he would, and everyone around him pushed him to.

My friend told me that our coaches had no clue he was even debating going pro. They called to beg him when he announced on Twitter.

With how today's climate is usually a player who wants to go pro early should tell the coaches after his sophomore season that he wants to test waters. Then they let that player participate in the junior pro day with rising seniors to get measured and get feedback from scouts. The coaches then tell NFL teams the player may want to go pro and get feedback to give the player. The coaches make sure all 32 teams take a look at the player. Everyone is aware and ideally the player has a lot of info to help him make a very educated decision. Duck did not do any of this and blindsided everyone.

I was told that our staff still did not bash him and said nothing but good things about him. I just hope he does not blame them or anyone else and was prepared for this. The issue with Clifton here is that he lied and hid the fact he was debating this so nobody could help him, he does not have a degree, and then he apparently went to go get some fancy training that did him no good.

I know it sounds like I'm crapping on him but I'm not. I'm telling the ugly truth here. I hope he makes it because he is a good player who I think gets drafted and for sure carves out a career with another year of development.

The sad thing here is that he is one of 49 early entries who did not get drafted. Many of them made a bad choice so he is not the only one.

You could have fooled me.

[appstatealum]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a sign that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

When you say “not listening to the staff and doing his own thing”, are you referring to the staff that recruited him, then after his junior year, jumped ship to Louisville to make more money?

It’s like they just went and did their own thing regardless of what was best for the guys they recruited. Weird!

Clifton made the decision that’s best for him. I won’t pretend to know his situation and I find it interesting that others seem to “know” more than he does about himself. Go get yours Clifton!

I don't know his exact family financial situation but from what a coach told me he just decided during the season that he would come out early because he saw his name projected to get drafted, had agents telling he would, and everyone around him pushed him to.

My friend told me that our coaches had no clue he was even debating going pro. They called to beg him when he announced on Twitter.

With how today's climate is usually a player who wants to go pro early should tell the coaches after his sophomore season that he wants to test waters. Then they let that player participate in the junior pro day with rising seniors to get measured and get feedback from scouts. The coaches then tell NFL teams the player may want to go pro and get feedback to give the player. The coaches make sure all 32 teams take a look at the player. Everyone is aware and ideally the player has a lot of info to help him make a very educated decision. Duck did not do any of this and blindsided everyone.

I was told that our staff still did not bash him and said nothing but good things about him. I just hope he does not blame them or anyone else and was prepared for this. The issue with Clifton here is that he lied and hid the fact he was debating this so nobody could help him, he does not have a degree, and then he apparently went to go get some fancy training that did him no good.

I know it sounds like I'm crapping on him but I'm not. I'm telling the ugly truth here. I hope he makes it because he is a good player who I think gets drafted and for sure carves out a career with another year of development.

The sad thing here is that he is one of 49 early entries who did not get drafted. Many of them made a bad choice so he is not the only one.

I was fairly close to the situation....you about summed it up. There was some inkling that he may go after all of the coaching shifts, but he had his mind made up by the time coaches and friends started reaching out. All anyone did was try and help him make an informed decision. He should have been more strategic about it, but I’m not knocking him. He needs to do what he feels is right in the end, but he also should have leaned on some wisdom around him to make sure he had all angles of his decision covered.

And to reference your Corey Sutton example above, I can promise you that there is no way his parents let him leave early without a degree unless he was a guaranteed 1-2 round pick.....and even then it would be a stretch! But I get what you were saying....

[AppStFan1]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a sign that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

When you say “not listening to the staff and doing his own thing”, are you referring to the staff that recruited him, then after his junior year, jumped ship to Louisville to make more money?

It’s like they just went and did their own thing regardless of what was best for the guys they recruited. Weird!

Clifton made the decision that’s best for him. I won’t pretend to know his situation and I find it interesting that others seem to “know” more than he does about himself. Go get yours Clifton!

I don't know his exact family financial situation but from what a coach told me he just decided during the season that he would come out early because he saw his name projected to get drafted, had agents telling he would, and everyone around him pushed him to.

My friend told me that our coaches had no clue he was even debating going pro. They called to beg him when he announced on Twitter.

With how today's climate is usually a player who wants to go pro early should tell the coaches after his sophomore season that he wants to test waters. Then they let that player participate in the junior pro day with rising seniors to get measured and get feedback from scouts. The coaches then tell NFL teams the player may want to go pro and get feedback to give the player. The coaches make sure all 32 teams take a look at the player. Everyone is aware and ideally the player has a lot of info to help him make a very educated decision. Duck did not do any of this and blindsided everyone.

I was told that our staff still did not bash him and said nothing but good things about him. I just hope he does not blame them or anyone else and was prepared for this. The issue with Clifton here is that he lied and hid the fact he was debating this so nobody could help him, he does not have a degree, and then he apparently went to go get some fancy training that did him no good.

I know it sounds like I'm crapping on him but I'm not. I'm telling the ugly truth here. I hope he makes it because he is a good player who I think gets drafted and for sure carves out a career with another year of development.

The sad thing here is that he is one of 49 early entries who did not get drafted. Many of them made a bad choice so he is not the only one.

You could have fooled me.

If facts sound like you are being bashed then change the facts. Duck was a heck of a player but needed one more year. Can't change that though so I hope he makes this year. He just made an uninformed decision and has a bigger hill to climb than we would have wanted for him.

By the way, my connection who told me the medical news on Moore and our pro day results is the one who told me all that laid out about what a guy like Sutton would need to do in order to truly know where he stands with the NFL. He has been spot on with our guys every year, just like this year, so I asked him about Sutton and that is what he said would be the perfect strategy for him. Remember when I was told I'm nuts on the 40 for DoMo? It looks like that 4.7 40 I was given on him was correct. Had he ran a 4.5 or better, he would have been signed quickly after the draft.

[AppStFan1]

If there was ever a reason for you to understand why players leave early look at Jalins injury. Not saying he should have but look at the impact of an injury.
I’ll never begrudge a player leaving to make a living.

That works if you are indeed going to make a living and have your degree but if you don't have a degree and get cut then you screw yourself over.

When you are listening to family (who has no clue what is reality and is bias), you don't tell your coaches that you are going, and then when they find out they tell you to stay because you won't get drafted and you don't have a degree then you are taking a huge risk that I just don't like the odds of. That is what Duck did.

We all know Corey Sutton is a beast so I'll use him as an example for next year.

If he does the following:

1. Has a monster year. 1st team All-SBC, 1000+ yards, 10+ TDs, has dominant games against SC and UNC.
2. Is open and honest with coaches and tells them he wants to go and gets their feedback
3. He gets positive feedback from NFL teams directly during the fall
4. He asks the NFL advisory board for a grade and gets feedback from his coaches
5. He has his degree
6. He is told he is 100% going to get a combine invite and because he has his degree gets a Senior Bowl invite.

Then all odds are good and if he did not end up getting drafted I would take that as a sign that App players should just not ever go early because all the the signs would have pointed to a good pick and making it.

Duck made a stupid choice and some of us said it right off the bat. Duck did not do any of that stuff I just laid out and thus it is harder for me to really feel bad. I hope he can stick on a roster but this is not the end to his college career that I hoped for him. I wanted to see him go out with a monster year (individual and team record), play in an all-star game, go to the combine, and get drafted but he blew all that by not listening to our staff and just doing his own thing.

When you say “not listening to the staff and doing his own thing”, are you referring to the staff that recruited him, then after his junior year, jumped ship to Louisville to make more money?

It’s like they just went and did their own thing regardless of what was best for the guys they recruited. Weird!

Clifton made the decision that’s best for him. I won’t pretend to know his situation and I find it interesting that others seem to “know” more than he does about himself. Go get yours Clifton!

I don't know his exact family financial situation but from what a coach told me he just decided during the season that he would come out early because he saw his name projected to get drafted, had agents telling he would, and everyone around him pushed him to.

My friend told me that our coaches had no clue he was even debating going pro. They called to beg him when he announced on Twitter.

With how today's climate is usually a player who wants to go pro early should tell the coaches after his sophomore season that he wants to test waters. Then they let that player participate in the junior pro day with rising seniors to get measured and get feedback from scouts. The coaches then tell NFL teams the player may want to go pro and get feedback to give the player. The coaches make sure all 32 teams take a look at the player. Everyone is aware and ideally the player has a lot of info to help him make a very educated decision. Duck did not do any of this and blindsided everyone.

I was told that our staff still did not bash him and said nothing but good things about him. I just hope he does not blame them or anyone else and was prepared for this. The issue with Clifton here is that he lied and hid the fact he was debating this so nobody could help him, he does not have a degree, and then he apparently went to go get some fancy training that did him no good.

I know it sounds like I'm crapping on him but I'm not. I'm telling the ugly truth here. I hope he makes it because he is a good player who I think gets drafted and for sure carves out a career with another year of development.

The sad thing here is that he is one of 49 early entries who did not get drafted. Many of them made a bad choice so he is not the only one.

I was fairly close to the situation....you about summed it up. There was some inkling that he may go after all of the coaching shifts, but he had his mind made up by the time coaches and friends started reaching out. All anyone did was try and help him make an informed decision. He should have been more strategic about it, but I’m not knocking him. He needs to do what he feels is right in the end, but he also should have leaned on some wisdom around him to make sure he had all angles of his decision covered.

And to reference your Corey Sutton example above, I can promise you that there is no way his parents let him leave early without a degree unless he was a guaranteed 1-2 round pick.....and even then it would be a stretch! But I get what you were saying....

He has GREAT parents! I know what you are saying and that is right. I don't see Sutton going pro early but of all our rising juniors he is the only one with any business even considering it. We don't have a single player who has any business declaring early on our roster right now. They all need to stay and get their degree.

I'm not sure Duck was swayed by the coaching change at all. It sounded like he had made up his mind well in advance. It is kind of dumb to declare early without talking to the new coaches and leaning on some of the returning coaches. Shoot, he could have called up Iron Mike and asked what scouts were telling him. Mike would have done that for him. Duck had a lot of tools at his disposal that he just ignored.