(01-12-2017 03:08 PM)ken d Wrote: I think you are talking about a handful of players here - maybe one or two a year at most. There are plenty of major college programs where virtually any high school kid with a pulse and 4.3 speed can stay academically eligible.
No, I'm talking kids who can't even pass the NCAA clearinghouse, but have four/five star raw talent (relative to the high school level).
I will agree that's not a huge number, but it is a significant number.
The reply on the thread so far as been simply "JUCO", and that's probably what those kids do. As they know trying to get into the NFL is the only chance they have to do anything above menial work in their life.
But I've moved past that now, to the bigger picture: how many players actually
want the school component that is monopolistically tied to (developmental) football for ages 18-20/21 ?? Now you're talking a much bigger picture ....
(01-12-2017 03:14 PM)arkstfan Wrote: I doubt you see many highly prized recruits opting for PPFL until there is a track record of making payroll and getting guys drafted.
Forget the money part of it. I know that's what you keyed in on, but just forget that part for a second. I mean afterall, how much real money are P5 players "making" during college? They're not. They get expenses paid for, is what it is, but they're not getting much in the way of checks being cut to them.
You ask four/five star kids this question: "given the choice of two pathways that will give you exactly equal chances of being a professional NFL player (development, opportunity to showcase, being drafted, etc.), would you choose the path that has a school component or would you choose the path that has no school component ??" and I think you get a lot of interest from some players in the no-school path.
But, like you said, it has to prove out that this alternative pathway can produce in terms of getting players signed or at least on OTA tryouts.
(01-12-2017 03:15 PM)ken d Wrote: What will these kids be doing during the 44 weeks a year when there are no games scheduled?
Same thing as NFL players do in the off-season, I suspect. Train, study the game, improve skills, improve speed/agility, rehab, take some time off.
(01-12-2017 03:15 PM)ken d Wrote: Proximity to college age females! A lot of top players will opt for an environment where they will be treated like gods, or princes with harems, rather than the sterile environment of a D-league.
You don't have to be enrolled in school to get that same proximity. You can be invited to the parties all the same.
And then you don't have to be worried about the school applying some unfair standard to kick you out of school when some female says you did this and that with no evidence.