Christian McCaffrey to sit out Sun Bowl to prepare for NFL Draft
Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey will not play in the Sun Bowl so he can prepare for the NFL Draft.
Recently, two college players have decided to prepare for the 2017 NFL Draft over playing in one last college game. Several days after LSU running back Leonard Fournette announced he won’t play in their bowl game, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey will do the same.
While Stanford fans might understandably be a bit mad at their running back, he’s doing what’s right for his future. Playing in the Sun Bowl would only put him in unnecessary risk to get injured, which would significantly impact his future. McCaffrey has given a lot to the NCAA and to Stanford while getting zero payment to do so. It makes no sense to risk his future by playing in a game that doesn’t mean anything.
McCaffrey will have many suitors at the 2017 NFL Draft and could be a first round pick. He’s a versatile running back who can do a variety of things. Whether McCaffrey running the ball out of the backfield, returning kicks, or catching passes, the Stanford running back can do damage in a lot of ways. That’s a very covetable skill set in today’s NFL, where versatility is at a premium.
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It should be interesting to see if other players follow this path. No one should blame them if they do. Sure, football is a team sport, but at some point, you have to watch out for yourself because nobody else is going to. McCaffrey has dreamed for quite some time about playing in the NFL, so it’s hard to fault him for doing what he feels is necessary to do so.
The 2015 Heisman Trophy runner up will leave Stanford as the single season record holder for most all-purpose yards with 3,864. He broke the Division I-A record held by Barry Sanders.