re: Cant believe Aaron Anderson left an extra year on the table to go undrafted

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Kid could've gotten another NIL deal,

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At LSU? Are you sure? Maybe Lane evaluated him and didn’t think he was worth what he’d been making. You heard Lane talk about their strategy with WRs and not spending on high end guys, but spreading it out over a ton of guys—15 this season, I think—and letting the cream rise to the top after a ton of competition. I don’t think Lane pushed out all the guys who left, but he probably told some guys that were making $500k that their system’s valuations put their value at $50k. (For example). And dudes preferred to bounce.

And everybody in here is just assuming he would have “put up a ton of numbers in Lane’s system.” Likely not true. They spread the wealth. Lots of dudes bunched up with 500-800 yards. He doesn’t produce a ton of 1,000+ yard WRs. And I don’t think Aaron Anderson is good enough to be the exception. Hell, we got some guys with similar play styles who at bigger and more explosive. No guarantee that he would have even been a significant part of WR rotation at all.

And I love Aaron Anderson. He’s a great football player that plays better than he measures. But the NFL cares about how you measure. And if you’re 5’8”, you can’t run a 4.55 and not jump 30” and expect to be highly coveted. And his measurable were always going to eventually get exposed whether he left after ‘24, ‘25, or ‘26.

And the risks of getting injured or not being a huge part of the offense were greater than the potential reward, which was basically only NIL. And like I said, I don’t know how much he legitimately could have made.

But he was probably better off not getting drafted in the 6th or 7th and signing as an UDFA. He was able to sign with a team that wanted him, that he could also see as giving him the best opportunity. Now he’s got that. And he has a chance to go compete in camp and show that he’s a better football player than his measurables. He’s tough, runs good routes, and can get separation over the middle of the field and make tough catches in big situations. That will play in the NFL. Hopefully it translates. I’ll certainly be pulling for him. He was one of my favorite players the past 2
years.

(And I haven’t seen what he signed for.
It might have been more than he’d have made in NIL anyway).

And some have terrible grades and returning to school is no longer an option.

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If kids declare and then don't like their pick or don't get drafted they should have the option to return to school

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that would screw the NFL team that drafted him.

And you’d have a truckload of college players declaring, just to see where they got drafted and then they decide after the draft if they like it.

It would destroy the entire draft process.

As for Perkins, he was a tweener and kind of a one-trick pony.

One wonders what it would have been had he ever/would have approached Kiffin about moving over to running back[?]