DETROIT — The shakeup in college football is having an impact on the NFL draft.
Now that college players can make money on their name, image and likeness, without losing their eligibility, there isn’t the same urgency to leave for the pros.
Many NFL evaluators say that has impacted the draft, which wrapped up Saturday, in some cases diluting the caliber of players available in the later rounds.
“It’s a real issue,” said a longtime NFL team personnel executive, noting the talent drop was more precipitous this year than in prior later rounds.
“People are being talked into staying in college, because you’re making reasonable money, and money that’s newly found, and you’ve got a chance to continue to get better,” CBS college football analyst Rick Neuheisel said. “Coaches can say, ‘You could stay around and go up two rounds next year.’ That’s a lot, if you’re just talking dollars and cents, not to mention the fun of having another year of college.
“There’s not that pressure to be a breadwinner from families that are in that socio-economic climate, because you are earning money.”
Noted quarterback evaluator Greg Cosell said it’s a trend that’s going to continue in years to come.
“The lesser kids who research where they’re going to be drafted, because you can research that, are far more likely to stay in college,” Cosell said. “What they’ll do is look for their best opportunity to make the most NIL money. Now you’re seeing kids transfer three times, four times, because it’s all about that NIL money.”
That has a reverberating effect on the draft.
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