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Urban Meyer wants there to be a scouting combine for underclassmen
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Urban Meyer was surprised that nine Ohio State underclassmen declared for the NFL draft.
The record number of early entries yielded varying results. Some, like first-round picks Joey Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott, Eli Apple and Darron Lee, were the right call. Others, like undrafted early entrees Jalin Marshall and Tyvis Powell, didn’t work out as well.
Either way, Meyer wants all future underclassmen to be more informed when making the decision of whether or not to leave school early.
While speaking at his hometown youth football camp, Meyer said he’s working with his colleagues in the American Football Coaches Association to have an underclassmen combine for players to compete in front of scouts and NFL executives without losing their eligibility.
“It’s not a process that’s well done right now,” Meyer said at his youth camp. “There’s a rule that says the NFL can’t look at juniors. Well of course the NFL [scouts] are going to look at a junior. And they should look at a junior.
“We’re going to try to get something where there’s a time those [scouts] can actually come in and they can work out the juniors. Because information is good. [The players] are getting their information somewhere, so why not get it from the experts — the scouts, the general managers, people who have the right information? They’re getting it from agents and they’re getting it from wannabes, and that’s not good information.”
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That’s certainly not a crazy demand. Other sports have already modernized that practice. This year, the NCAA allowed underclassmen the option to go through the NBA draft combine process before officially declaring. Major League Baseball allows players to return to college if they aren’t satisfied with their draft position.
Bret Bielema said he believes all undrafted underclassmen should at least be allowed to return to school.
Nick Saban also voiced his desire to modify the underclassmen draft process. With college football’s top two coaches both vocally advocating for change, it’s up to the NCAA and NFL to potentially settle on an agreement to update the pre-draft evaluation process.
There were 30 undrafted underclassmen in 2016, which was 28 percent of the total early entrees. That number is down 0.6 percent from last year, but it’s obviously still a problem.
Will Meyer’s comments help spark change?
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.