OT: Christian McCaffrey Skipping Sun Bowl

Submitted by Bando Calrissian on

Christian McCaffrey has decided to skip the Sun Bowl so he can prepare for the draft.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2017/story/_/id/18310396/christian-mccaffr…

Fournette is doing the same thing with LSU's appearance in the Citrus Bowl. Will this be the new normal for high-profile potential draft picks whose teams are playing in lower-tier bowl games? 

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ijohnb

December 19th, 2016 at 2:29 PM ^

you like that set up?  Are you cool with the Rose Bowl not meaning anything?  Once again, this is not snark.  I am really trying to get a pulse on the issue.  I'm sure I will like being in the college football playoff when that occurs, but I cannot say that I like the college football playoff as a whole.

Ten years ago, I would be like "Nice! Stanford v. Carolina in the Sun Bowl.  This should be good."  Now it is kind of like "well the best player on either team does not care enough about it to play so why would I watch it." 

As a fan of the sport, that sucks.

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WorldwideTJRob

December 19th, 2016 at 2:52 PM ^

I never took it as being snark it is actually a very good question ijohnb. I would love for bowl games to have the same luster as I'm a huge college football fan but they just don't anymore. This is what happens when you have a tournament/playoffs for all the marbles. Everyone is focused on the CFP now with all the commercials and rankings leading up to the big reveal. The rest of the bowl games are going to become the equivalent of the football NIT soon.Especially if they expand it to more teams.



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ijohnb

December 19th, 2016 at 3:05 PM ^

may happen by the college football version of "natural selection" within a fairly short time frame, even if they don't expand the Playoff.  It may be that the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar, and Cotton Bowl "don't mean anything" because they are bunched in with a bunch of other bowl games that REALLY don't mean anything, the Sun Bowl being one of them.  If these other bowls start to really tank in terms of players not playing, nobody watching, and nobody going, sponsors will likely fall by the wasteside and they truly won't have any reason to have some of these games.

At this point, if it is going to say at a 4 team playoff, I would rather it just be the NY 6 and possibly the Citrus Bowl and the Holiday Bowl.  Scrap the rest.  If going to a bowl game, even if not the CFP, felt as though it was in and of itself an accomplishment I think those particular games would that remained would keep their luster. 

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titanfan11

December 19th, 2016 at 3:13 PM ^

lower tier bowl games disappear, it will not be due to lack of sponsorship.

Just note Raycom Media, San Diego County Credit Union, Popeyes, Dollar General, Camping World, Motel 6, Nova Home Loans...there's A LOT of companies out there who would do anything to get their name out.  

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Goggles Paisano

December 19th, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^

I understand it but I don't like it.  I would like to see them play one more time but hard to knock them for not playing in a shitty bowl game.  Jaylen Smith's injury last year was really hard to watch (even though that was a legit bowl game).

 

 

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evenyoubrutus

December 19th, 2016 at 10:21 AM ^

Given how much these draft analysts and scouts (the real ones, not the morons on WWL) nitpick about players and critique every little move they make, I'm sure not many will do this.  It seems like people are always looking for a stupid reason to lower someone's draft stock, and this is an easy one.

"Is not a team player."

And, TBH, that might actually be a legit criticism in a circumstance like this.

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FGB

December 20th, 2016 at 1:29 AM ^

They don't actually nitpick all this stuff.  If you listen to quotes from scouts, they say that 90% of the evaluation is done well before interviews, before the combine even. The evaluations are done largely on 3-4 years of tape as opposed to a handful of moments.  Just as any rational person who has billions of dollars invested would evaluate things.  

ESPN is the one who starts all the talk about draft stock moving up and down on a daily basis, like it's a publicly traded commodity, just so they have something to "report" and an excuse to issue "Mock Draft Version 82".

Teams will have different draft boards which can lead to different views about who will be drafted where, but they're not rearranging them constantly based on each 225-rep.

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goblue224

December 19th, 2016 at 10:22 AM ^

Sucks for fans who want to see them play for their schools one last time, but if a coach can jump ship before a bowl game to prepare for a better job than why shouldn't players be allowed to.

Not saying I like it, just how it is.

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FauxMo

December 19th, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^

If my knees were worth $20 or $30 million, and one bad play in a meaningless game could make that money go bye-bye, I wouldn't play either. The NCAA is a business, and football is a business for kids at their level at this point. So yeah, do what you gotta do fellas... 

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JHendo

December 19th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^

You take out an insurance policy if you want to protect your investment in your physical skills while in college as a pro-caliber player. What saddens me is it clearpy is purely business for him and the people in his ear at this point, rather than a game he is simply is having fun playing. In his defense, I think that's more of testament to the profitization and exploitation of amateur athletes by the NCAA more than anything else.

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Larry Appleton

December 19th, 2016 at 10:25 AM ^

Questions;
- Does this mean he officially quit the team, or is he still a member of the team but is just sitting out the game?
- How would a coach react to this?



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mGrowOld

December 19th, 2016 at 10:27 AM ^

Upside for playing: 

1. Bag of bowl swag

2. One last trip with your buddies

3. The always coveted Sun Bowl trophy

4. Free trip to lovely El Paso, Texas and all it has to offer

 

Downside for playing:

1. Career-ending injury

2. Loss of millions of dollars in future earnings

 

Yup - pretty sure this WILL be the new normal sooner rather than later.

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Space Coyote

December 19th, 2016 at 10:29 AM ^

Because I want to see kids compete, and I like to see players of this caliber compete one last time in college football. That said, I can't blame them either.

They did  compete throughout the season, when the games held more meaning, so I'm not going to hold it in the same regard as those that coast for a season. But still - and I'm sure Harbaugh would feel the same way - you want to draft guys who see competition as everything, because those are the guys that will give that to you daily in all walks of life when you draft them for you team. This may impact their draft slot a bit, quite honestly, but certainly not as much as getting hurt would.

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LKLIII

December 19th, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^

Not to mention that this one hits closer to home. If this runs in the family we could be asking ourselves the same question 4 years from now. The only thing preventing that dilemma would be an NCAA rules change, a Dylan McCaffrey flame out, or us being in such a big bowl game in January 2021 that the temptation to skip isn't there. Here's hoping it's #3.



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LKLIII

December 19th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^

And for those of you who's reactions are of the "compete in everything" because you want your team to win the immediate low tier bowl game, consider this--part of the recruiting appeal we have is Harbaugh is a former NFL guy and knows what it takes. If Harbaugh stops being sympathetic to those guys, does he miss out on some future NFL prospects? Obviously there is a fine line and case by case basis. But it's something that should be considered. We want a reputation for being tough competitors and great developers of talent, but these kids are people too. Even the potential NFL super stars.



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Waka

December 19th, 2016 at 3:04 PM ^

You sir, are known to kids these days as a baby back bitch. Also, you booty at football. Now that that's out the way, I'm going to assume that by "lower tier bowl like that", you're talking about the Sun and not the Orange. The Orange isn't the CFP, but it's about as close as you can get. Because we are in a NY6 bowl, I think it's likely that we avoid the situation this year. However, if we had lost to Colorado and Wisconsin, finished 8-4, and were headed to a lesser bowl, I don't think it would hurt the team to have the 2nd team defense play the entire game. Obviously Harbaugh should give the seniors one last chance to play if they want to, but for the players who want to sit out and prepare for the draft, let them do that and prepare next year's team with actual game experience.

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