All drafts from home or sillier environs. One picture suffices to explain.

This guy's gonna pick some dogs, amirite? Hell yeah, jokes.

Devil will be in the details. The NCAA's going to try to head off NIL legislation before something gets imposed on them:

[The NCAA] will be proposing conceptual changes that include allowing athletes to promote commercial products and services, sell memorabilia and autographs and publicize appearances, camps, clinics or lessons for which they could be paid, according to a person with knowledge of the proposal. …

In addition, athletes would not be allowed to reference the names of their schools in connection with these activities, nor would they be allowed to use the schools’ marks and logos. Schools would not be allowed to be directly involved in arranging these proposed activities for athletes. Athletes would be allowed the use of professional services to assist them.

I believe the NCAA will do whatever they think is best for the bottom lines of the people in charge and since NIL is one of them—it costs nothing except the possibility of foregone donations—it will happen. Concerns about the nature of amateurism will immediately be forgotten upon the adoption of these regulations. Remember that Bill Hancock spent a decade of his life proclaiming that a college football playoff would ruin the sport and was then appointed the head of the playoff.

To answer everyone's first question:

The person emphasized that the proposed concepts remain a long way from actual rules changes and that many questions remain, including how to deal with potential involvement of school athletic boosters, determining fair-market value of the activities that would be allowed and the prospect of group licensing.

A solution regarding group licensing potentially would be key to the re-start of college sports video games such as the ones from EA Sports that was discontinued amid antitrust lawsuits filed on behalf of former football player Sam Keller and former basketball player Ed O'Bannon.

Once the goat is out of the barn that'll get done.

[After THE JUMP: receivers everywhere]

7 on 7 is good for some things. This is the era of the receiver in football, spurred in part by incessant offseason 7 on 7 before guys even get to college. Josh Gattis features in this Ringer article on the rise of the WR technician:

The criticism of 7-on-7 is that it’s not “real” football and doesn’t mirror what kids will see at higher levels of the game. But for skill-position players, it’s close enough. Some coaches even argue that the difference between the structure of 7-on-7 and full-contact games can actually help receivers develop. At the high school level, coverages tend to be overly simple and predictable. In an effort to hide their cornerbacks and slow down the rise of running quarterbacks, most defenses stick in soft zones throughout the game. In 7-on-7 tournaments filled with all-star talent, though, those concerns disappear. “7-on-7 is set up for press and man coverage,” Scott says. “And they’re playing against really good athletes, not just whoever’s on their high school schedule.”

Gattis on his own progression:

Pass-heavy offenses have undeniably helped receivers improve, but Gattis says the increase in volume has also accelerated his development as a coach. As players have learned which footwork techniques are most effective, or how to best use a head fake to create separation, Gattis has been able to take those lessons and ingrain them in his teaching. “I laugh sometimes when I look back on my 2010 drill tape,” Gattis says. “I’m like, ‘That thing’s garbage.’” Back then, Gattis didn’t understand how a player’s foot placement at the top of a route helped a guy open his hips. He used to think that releases were won with a player’s feet or hands. These days, he believes it’s all about how a wideout moves his shoulders. “You can’t stop growing at this position,” Gattis says. “There’s always new things to learn.”

Hopefully that'll start paying off down the road. Tough to tell this year with the transition and QB issues. It would be nice to have plus development at OL and WR since that's approximately 8/11ths of your offense.

These are good nonconference opponents. Who knows if these games will happen, but Andrew Kahn reports that Michigan basketball has scheduled Oakland and Southern Utah next season.

Southern Utah was a ~.500 Big Sky team last year. The Big Sky is almost smack dab in the middle of D-1 conferences; Southern Utah was #161 in Kenpom. That's a good spot for a nonconference game that you're very unlikely to lose—Michigan's two recent neutral site outings against Montana, a Big Sky team, are indicative—but won't hurt your metrics like a SWAC game would.

Oakland is in a similar boat. They're coming off their worst season since 2006, per Kenpom, and that was a 14-19 season in which they were 8-10 in the Horizon. The Horizon is a step down from the Big Sky, but Oakland has been one of the better teams in it since joining in 2014.

Both of these games are likely to be 98%+ wins on Kenpom when they happen; playing them instead of Houston Baptist will help the NCSOS metric that's still on the teamsheets and seems to have way more importance than it should even in the NET era.

Probably not. Another high-usage low-major guard is in the portal:

Javon Freeman-Liberty isn’t staying in the NBA Draft, but the star sophomore isn’t coming back to Valparaiso either.

Freeman-Liberty confirmed his intention to pull his name from the NBA Draft on Tuesday morning and instead enter the transfer portal for the second straight season.

Freeman-Liberty eventually decided to pull his name out of the portal and return to Valpo. He was a 31% usage guy with decent efficiency last year but he's a career 28% three point shooter who had a minimal uptick in year two. Transfer shooting translates; play inside the arc is tougher.

I am one with the children. Jon Runyan Jr's phone avoidance game is legendary:

Jon Runyan Jr. almost missed his chance to get drafted by the Packers pic.twitter.com/qoGmlWgrRo

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) April 28, 2020

You are a football player. You get a phone call from a town that is known only for having a football team in it, on draft day, and you're like "nah that's someone trying to tell me they've been trying to reach me for weeks". Or you'll pick up and it'll be a recording of someone speaking Mandarin.

Anyway, decline, let's play Fortnight—RECORD SCRATCH

The internet provides examples. The Chiefs took Mike Danna in the fifth round of the draft, prompting some internet analyses:

Another example of doing the job and going that little bit extra.

Head up with the tight end, Danna covers the interior gap with his eyes reading the counter. Seeing the pulling guard, Danna squeeze the gap further and steps in, stacking the guard in the gap, anchoring to fill. pic.twitter.com/1GbjVrPOGe

— Craig Stout (@barleyhop) April 28, 2020

This was the stuff Danna was good at; his lack of edge rush is what saw him drop to the later rounds of the draft. Serendipitously, this is also an excellent example of what Michigan was asking from both defensive ends last year in order to plug their hole at DT.

That's why Uche's snaps were somewhat limited. Asking Uche to do this kind of thing is not a good use of his skillset. Meanwhile the two guys people have theorized Uche should have played over, Hudson and Glasgow, both got drafted. Michigan did try to play 3-3-5 more last year but they got gashed doing it.

Should a football program have defensive tackles? Yes, I think they should. But that's the thing to complain about, not Uche's snap counts.

It is also a power move to have your Heisman in the background. Desmond Howard's leather-bound books* room is on point:

Also, I see you @DesmondHoward with the album switch outs. Love it! pic.twitter.com/HOcVTon78B

— Ahiza García-Hodges (@ahiza_garcia) April 24, 2020

If I had won the Heisman I would carry a replica around with me and accidentally leave it places, then wander in to ask whether anyone had found it.

*[BOOKS, you animals]

You'd have to be pretty dim. Hopes were nonexistent for Zombie Deadspin and somehow they're not even meeting those. The Deadspin twitter account spent the first round sending just-the-facts-ma'am tweets about who got picked. Shocking enough to see Deadspin reduced to I Can't Technology, and they didn't even do that right:

…the Deadspin Twitter feed’s attempts to go pick-by-pick (which have seen amazingly low engagement, especially considering that their zombie Twitter account still has 995,000 followers thanks to it being transferred over from the days when Deadspin was an actual site) have completely missed some picks, like #19 (Ohio State’s Damon Arnett to the Raiders) and #25 (Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk to the 49ers).

The most traction they got is when they screwed up a pick. Incredible job of setting everyone's jobs and money on fire.

The gap continues. CBS has a list of the top 100 2021 NFL draft prospects. Michigan has two guys land on it: Jalen Mayfield is #51; Nico Collins is #79. OSU has seven.

Etc.: Not a keeper. The rabbits just want to die. Yet another look at recruiting rankings. Same answer as usual: they're pretty good but not gospel. The Name of the Year soldiers on. Really thought OSU transfer "Justice Sueing" would make it but cannot complain that he did not. Personal favorite: "Adolphus Hailstork." Bad news, MSU fans.

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