Now even late rounders are sitting out bowl games to prepare for their NFL futures.
If skipping college football bowl games to ensure you’re ready for the NFL Draft is the new “in” thing, consider Baylor running back Shock Linwood all-in.
While his team prepares for the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl against Boise State on December 27, Linwood won’t be participating.
Baylor senior running back Shock Linwood will skip the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl to focus on his NFL future. pic.twitter.com/AqmWxRrWY0
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 20, 2016
Linwood’s decision is the latest in what could quickly become a trend: college football stars deciding not to risk injury in their teams’ bowl games in order to protect themselves for the draft. Both LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey recently declared they too would opt out of bowl season with their eyes on pro futures.
The difference is that Fournette and McCaffrey are among the very best at their position, likely to be taken in Round 1 or early on Day 2. Fournette has also been injured this season, making his choice a bit easier for fans to understand.
In contrast, Linwood is considered a prospect with some upside, especially catching passes out of the backfield, but far from a sure thing. CBS Sports doesn’t even have Linwood among its top 25 draft-eligible backs, while Walter Football ranks him 15th in its most recent positional rankings, carrying a fourth to sixth-round grade.
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That begs the obvious question: when even more marginal pro prospects are sitting out bowl games, could it be a lack of participation, and not the playoff system, that is the lurking danger to the traditional bowl system? An answer might be coming quicker than anyone would have imagined prior to this year.