INDIANAPOLIS — Highly publicized decisions by former LSU RB Leonard Fournette and Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey to sit out their respective bowl games will subject the two 2017 NFL Draft prospects to questions from NFL personnel who are bothered by the move, according to new San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch.
Dates: Feb. 28-March 6
TV: NFL Network
Fournette and McCaffrey were both hobbled by injuries in their final college seasons last year. They sat out the Citrus and Sun Bowls, respectively, and both filed for early draft entry as juniors. Criticism followed, and Fournette later said his bowl absence wasn’t his own decision.
But based on Lynch’s remarks, that doesn’t mean he won’t have to answer for it.
"I think you understand their perspective, but I don’t necessarily think it’s a positive thing for college football. This is such a team sport — I know there are people that I’ve talked to here that that really bothers," Lynch said Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "I’m fortunate. With one of those players, I happen to know the young man (McCaffrey). So I would never question his commitment to team, but other people will. Some of these kids are going to have to weigh that moving forward."
Baylor RB Shock Linwood, who was not invited to the combine, also passed on the BU’s appearance in the Cactus Bowl.
After former Notre Dame LB Jaylon Smith suffered a devastating knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2015 season, it should come as little surprise that some draft prospects are now thinking twice about risking injury in a bowl game. Smith slipped to the second round of last year’s draft as a result, to the Dallas Cowboys, and missed the entire 2016 season.
Lynch sees a trend ahead.
"I think it will affect football going forward for many years to come," he said.
It will no doubt be among the trickier topics that come up in personal interviews that NFL clubs conduct with the two star rushers at the combine. Their answers might or might not be satisfactory, but if Lynch is correct, teams had better get used to asking the question.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter @ChaseGoodbread.
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