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2 B1G football signees could be high picks in 2021 MLB Draft
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Both Penn State and Iowa are at risk of losing 2021 signees to the MLB Draft.
Penn State’s Lonnie White Jr. and Iowa’s Brody Brecht could be taken in the early rounds of this weekend’s MLB Draft.
According to ESPN’s MLB draft expert Kiley McDaniel, both players are ranked in the top-125 of this year’s class. McDaniel has White at No. 39 and Brecht at No. 125.
If either player is picked in the first few rounds, fans should start to be concerned. Because of the way MLB’s system works, it would likely be an indication that the player has chosen baseball.
Teams will want to be assured of a player’s commitment before choosing to spend a high draft pick on a player. If either White or Brecht get drafted but ultimately pursue college football instead, the team would have essentially wasted their draft pick.
White would be a huge loss for the Nittany Lions. According to 247Sports Composite rankings, he’s a 4-star prospect and the second-best player in Penn State’s 2021 recruiting class.
Brecht isn’t quite as highly-rated as a football player, but would still be a big loss for the Hawkeyes. He’s the only player listed as a receiver in Iowa’s 2021 class.
Players drafted in the first 66 picks are likely to receive at least $1 million in signing bonuses. The first 119 picks are set to receive at least $500,000 in bonus money.
The first round of the MLB Draft is on Sunday. Rounds two through 10 will be on Monday and rounds 11 through 20 will be on Tuesday.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.