Stanford and LSU fans are a little ticked at the news to say the least, but every single college football fan and coach should be feeling a little uneasy after Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey both decided to skip their teams’ respective bowl appearances in preparation for the NFL draft.
All these young guys deciding to skip their bowl games 🤔.I would do anything to play one more time with my brothers in that scarlet and gray
— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) December 19, 2016
The move makes all the sense in the world for two men who both should be first round picks (and were in my first NFL Mock Draft). They keep a relatively meaningless game’s damage off their bodies, a game that can only hurt their draft status if they get hurt. Last year Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith was heading for a possible Top 5 pick before injuring his knee in the team’s bowl game. He dropped all the way to the second round, lost millions of dollars, and never played a down for the Dallas Cowboys this season.
Say Jaylon Smith went 5th overall. He'd get a fully guaranteed 4-yr, $23.5M deal. Wound up with a 4-yr, $6.5M ($4.5M guar) deal instead.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 19, 2016
For Fournette, the reasoning is even simpler than not wanting to get hurt. The kid already is hurt. His ankle has bothered him all season and, as of last week, Fournette says it’s about 85-90 percent. So he feels the smartest decision is to rest it up, let it heal as he prepares for the NFL combine. Is it a selfish choice? By definition. But all of us make selfish choices every day and, frankly, Fournette is showing LSU exactly the same kind of loyalty they showed his head coach Les Miles when they fired him.
Forever LSU, Forever Buganation pic.twitter.com/sdkN0JaonF
— 7⃣ Leonard Fournette (@_fournette) December 5, 2016
McCaffrey too has been hobbled for part of the season. Right now he’s looking like a late first rounder, but a bad combine experience or workout may push him to the second round and, again, we’re talking about millions of dollars here.
— Christian McCaffrey (@run__cmc) December 19, 2016
How do their coaches feel about it? Again, who gives a shit. If David Shaw took another job right now, he wouldn’t coach at the Sun Bowl. It’s been common practice for coaches taking a new job to step away for their teams’ bowl games for years. Why can’t a player make the same call?
It’s not like these are major bowls. McCaffrey would have played in the Rose Bowl. I guarantee Fournette would have played in the Sugar Bowl. These aren’t College Football Playoff teams. It’s the Sun Bowl (Stanford) and the Citrus Bowl (LSU).
Other teams not playing in a major bowl or the CFB playoff should be worried their players could make the same choice. The saving grace is a bowl game gives a player one more chance to put up some dominant game file. Fournette and McCaffrey don’t need it. Both were Heisman finalists, but a guy like Mitch Trubisky can solidify his position as the No. 1 or No. 2 quarterback with a terrific Sun Bowl performance. A guy like LSU safety Jamal Adams can move himself up into the Top 10 with a shutdown showing in the Citrus Bowl.
It’s a wager, and players should always bet on themselves. If they need the extra bump a bowl can bring, play. If they don’t, like McCaffrey and Fournette, stepping away is absolutely the right choice.
Marrone named interim Jaguars coach
There’s no surprise here. Like I predicted Sunday the Jacksonville Jaguars named former Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone as their interim head coach. Unlike John Fassel with teh Los Angeles Rams, Marrone has a real shot to keep the job with a two-week audition.
https://twitter.com/DaJagsOnFire/status/810992930882252801
Marrone was 15-17 in his two years with the Bills, leading them to a 9-7 mark in 2014. Marrone exercised a clause in his contract to make himself a coaching free agent after 2014, but couldn’t land another head coaching job. For the last two years he’s been the assistant head coach and offensive line coach for the Jaguars.
Savage will start for Texans
After leading the Houston Texans to a come-from-behind victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, quarterback Tom Savage will be handed the reigns again. Texans head coach Bill O’Brien announced Monday that Savage will get the nod against the Cincinnati Bengals Saturday.
Tom Savage: Texans 9th starting QB since 2013, tied with Browns for most during that span. pic.twitter.com/j8STf2HxoM
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) December 20, 2016
Savage led the 21-20 comeback win by completed 23-of-36 passing with 260 yards and no picks.
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