NFL GM and scout opine on Fournette's decision to abstain from bowl game...

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I asked a general manager and a national scout for different teams how they view this trend? Fournette has played through an ankle injury for much of the season and McCaffrey has played with a hip injury. Walker was sidelined by a concussion and Lockwood’s case is more curious. There are character concerns about him.

“I see it both ways,” the GM said. “And that’s a very difficult decision to make for a high-round pick like Leonard Fournette, who has been playing hurt all year. The kid has fought through and played on a high ankle sprain the entire year and fought and he got to the point where he said, ‘You know what, I am going to protect myself.’ And I think (Christian McCaffrey) has been playing with a hip pointer so both of those kids fought their butts off to play. Look, if a kid is healthy and he’s not going to be a high-round pick, he needs to play. That kid from Baylor who is not playing in the game, that’s ridiculous. That’s because he’s a moron.

“It’s the ultimate team sport and it just makes you wonder when you get to our level and it gets to crunch time late in the season in December where everyone is hurt and they are in the last year of their contract, do they make a business decision? Or do they make a decision for the team? There are definitely going to be some questions about that. Do I think Fournette and McCaffrey would do that? No, I think they’re both good kids. And they both have proven they will play through injuries and they’ve done it all year.”

It’s worth wondering if this eventually reaches the next level where a player, after two years in college, opts to sit out his entire third season to ensure he is healthy before becoming eligible for the draft three years removed from high school.

“It could,” the GM said. “I mean, I wouldn’t advise it because that really shows a sign of selfishness and they need to continue to hone their skills. To me, the only way you get better at anything is by practicing and playing. A kid isn’t going to get better sitting out a season and to me that is a really rare, rare case. Really the only position that might happen is running back. Rushers need to practice. Even (Jadaveon) Clowney when he was coming out, as freaky as he was, he still had a lot of rawness in his game. Look, those are the exceptions. The kids that get hurt are the exceptions. People bring up Jaylon Smith and before that Willis McGahee (bad knee injury in 2002 Fiesta Bowl), but how many kids played in bowl games and not gotten hurt and been with their teammates and been with their teams? We’re talking about a small, small percentage. I see it both ways. If kids like Fournette and McCaffrey who are good workers and good kids and have played through injuries, I am not going to knock them, no.”

The national scout doesn’t believe it’s going to create a lot of discussions when it comes to Fournette and McCaffrey.

“In this selfish world, I think the team is kind of a lost art,” he said. “It doesn’t affect them when they’re evaluated just that they’re always going to be a little selfish, that’s all. How are they a real team guy? Fournette has had a legitimate injury and so has McCaffrey so it’s not going to affect them too much.”

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