None.
Look at NFL contracts. They're paid out on the regular season games. Playoff checks are pennies for them.
Tampa Out
- Thread starter acoustimac
- Start date
Look at NFL contracts. They're paid out on the regular season games. Playoff checks are pennies for them.
I understand your point.
I guess each player and coach has to make a decision.
Character and grit matter.
Talent matters more.
Clowney was a beast in 2012.
I believe he had to play in 2013, but he went through the motions. It was obvious. He had already solidified his draft stock.
So essentially he checked out after smashing Devin Gardner in the 2013 Outback Bowl.
Quitting in your team by sitting out last few games is a bad look.
Or halfway playing A whole season.
Unless you have #1 Draft grades.
What's the most movement a guy is truly going to get in the draft by playing in 1 or 2 playoff games? Plus this goes both ways, a guy can drop too and of course get injured. Even in an extreme case there might be an initial overreaction from talking heads' draft boards, but by the time the draft rolls around, it's going to come down to the combine, a full season of film, interviews, etc. The odds that there are guys that those playoff games alone are going to have some huge impact in the end to draft status is tiny, probably much smaller than the risk of injury.
The reality is the games are really important to fans and coaches, so we try to rationalize that there's a sound business decision to play in a playoff game vs. other bowl games. There isn't. A Mizzou player going against Ohio State has the same supposed draft impact a playoff game has (playing against the best competition). Yet, people wouldn't think twice if guys opt out of that game.
When it comes down to it, none of these games, playoff or not, are any more likely to have significant upward impact on draft status. A guy is just as likely to drop, and of course there's the injury risk. Most players probably care enough about the accomplishment to play. But I bet there are plenty that are very concerned about injury, but either feel pressured from coaches to play, or are fed the BS draft movement line from coaches and people with a vested interest in them playing.
Stetson Bennett disagrees.
withthefirstpick.com
NFL Draft: 5 players who improved draft stock in CFP Championship Game
Which players improved their draft stock in the 2023 NFL Draft during the Colleg Football Championship Game between Georgia and TCU?
withthefirstpick.com
I guess there seems to be some hard line that at this point everybody seems to agree on that most bowls are meaningless, and guys should opt out. But at least at this point opting out for late season league games would be looked down on by fans and coaches. I just think that line is eventually going to start moving to when a team is out of CCG contention. Then maybe to when teams are out of playoff contention. Then finally it might be to once a guy has more or less put enough on film for draft evaluation in complement to the combine.
It's easy for fans to support opt outs now, because for the most part this is happening at a point that fans find acceptable. Coaches publicly support it because it's one game that they would rather win, but it's only one game, and the blowback for being an ass about it isn't worth it.
But if/when that line moves, much of this rationale is going to go out the window. It's easy for a coach to support an opt out of one game and say how it makes sense due to draft and risk of injury. What is that coach going to say when a guy is a top 15 in mock drafts and decides to shut it down for the last three regular season games too?
I would guess Porter plays for Tampa in this game. I couldn't remember who usually fills in for Verdon?
Which is why I pointed out Clowney.
He basically sat out an entire season by playing pseudo football.
But to each his own.
So why do you think TJ2 isn’t playing?
I have my multifaceted theory.
Stetson Bennett disagrees.
NFL Draft: 5 players who improved draft stock in CFP Championship Game
Which players improved their draft stock in the 2023 NFL Draft during the Colleg Football Championship Game between Georgia and TCU?
Bennett was a day three guy in mocks before. He was a day three guy in the draft. In the same article as an example they think Christopher Smith, who before that was projected as a 2nd/3rd rounder on mocks was going to rise up the board based on the playoff. He ended up getting picked in the 5th.
Like I said, it's an overreaction by people that write about the draft that don't actually know much about it. When the draft rolls around these two games, other than injury or something completely out of this world, are going to be two very tiny data points in the overall draft picture. If these draft guys think the Rams didn't have Bennet on their draft board and suddenly shot him up there because he threw for over 300 against two defenses that got lit up by JJ McCarthy, then they are idiots.
No matter how many points the “We need fewer Bowls that mean more!” crowd makes, this is still the point they can’t argue. By their logic, most games don’t matter at all. And what is the point of the games in the first place? The players enjoy playing, the fans enjoy watching, and there’s money to be made on that dynamic. There’s no other compelling reason for football to be played.
I've been saying this for awhile.
If only playoffs matter, then why does ANY game matter after a team has been eliminated from the playoffs? Why does the ISU/BYU game matter more than the Liberty Bowl?
This is all completely arbitrary. Just like caring about sports in the first place.
Exactly. Winning championships only matters because we as the viewing audience collectively decided that. There is no inherent value in it. It's just entertainment.
Don't forget competitive spirit. The vast majority of guys play the game to win championships. You still have the chance to do that when you are in the playoffs. I think the majority of guys whose teams have the chance to win it all will likely continue to play and reach for that ring.
Agree. But for that same reason there’s no reason we shouldn’t expect opt outs to start creeping into regular seasons. Also, it’s a bit of cognitive dissonance to then have the biggest insult in sports be when a guy quits in a game when the outcome is pretty much sealed, then turnaround and view it as totally acceptable for a guy to hang it up once they can’t win a title.
And yeah, maybe it’s competitive spirit, or maybe it’s just pressure and fear of public backlash or draft status for being viewed as not being a good teammate that is keeping guys from opting out of a playoff. Once a few big names opted out of bowls and it became an acceptable thing to do, the floodgates opened. It isn’t just a handful of projected high picks, it’s a ton of guys. That says it’s pretty clearly fear of blowback that kept guys playing in bowls a lot more than a desire to compete.
Not that this is the choice, but I bet if you asked college players if they would rather win a national title and never make an NFL roster or go 4-8 and play in the NFL for 5 years, the majority would take the latter. Also, even if a vast majority opt in, it only takes a couple opt outs of guys that also are of a draft status most likely to opt out, to alter a playoff to the extent that it becomes a joke.
NIL helps soften this potential problem, but fans need to be ready to deal with a college football where it is viewed by a lot of players as a way to get them to the NFL, and little more. NFL scouting is sophisticated enough, and teams have shown that they will not penalize a guy for opting out. I think it’s inevitable that the opt out line keeps shifting further into the season.
I agree that the door has been opened to regular season opt outs. Once it was decided that bowl games didn't matter because they "weren't the playoffs" it was only a matter of time before anything after playoffs have been eliminated is deemed irrelevant.
Yep…. why play if you’re a lock to get drafted…. and your team can’t make the 12 team playoff?
I don’t even care anymore if college football collapses…. they did it all to themselves. It’s getting worse every year. Let it all go to s**t for all I care.
Maybe then they will finally change things and go to a model somewhat like Chip Kelly mentioned.
Humans have an inate need to identify with something for a sense of belonging, and arguing about 'big picture' irrelevant things.
Sports fills those needs perfectly.
You could argue that it's already happening. Guys playing 4 games early then sitting out the rest of the season, so they can keep the year of eligibility and transfer once the portal opens.
