MOBILE, Ala. -- Alabama coach Nick Saban joined Reese's Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage this week in lamenting the proliferation of college underclassmen declaring early for the NFL draft.
The 2014 NFL Draft will have a record 98 underclassmen, plus another four who have remaining NCAA eligibility but have already earned a degree. That number shot up from last year, when 73 were eligible, more than a quarter of which went undrafted.
"I don't think the NFL really wants this, I don't really think the colleges want this," Saban said, according to al.com. "I don't think it's in the best interest of the players and I don't know what the solution to the problem really is."
Savage expressed concerns earlier this week, as well, noting that while more declaring underclassmen may be athletically ready for the NFL, fewer have the technique and knowledge of the game they'll need to succeed at the pro level. Saban's program is losing five players to early entry, but only two -- safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and tackle Cyrus Kouandjio -- project as first-round picks. Saban's guideline for advising his underclassmen is to encourage early entry for those projected as a first-rounder, but for the rest, to encourage continuing their college development. He made somewhat of an exception a year ago in endorsing the early departure of running back Eddie Lacy, in part because those who play Lacy's position have the shortest NFL careers on average.
"The culture is changing and I think it starts with guys when they're in high school. They get a lot of attention, they get rated, they get a lot of expectations put on them," Saban added.
"I think that the natural order of things is for a guy to graduate from high school, to develop as a player in college, to graduate and develop a career off the field in college and in most cases that takes three-and-a-half or four years."
If the NFL doesn't do something to curb the rising numbers, perhaps NCAA action might. With conference commissioners calling for scholarships to expand to cover the full cost of attendance for student-athletes, legislative action at the college level may eventually put underclassmen in more of a comfort zone to stay in school.
An NFL paycheck will always, of course, drive these decisions. But if the NCAA were to make things a bit financially easier on college athletes, a few might give stronger consideration to the benefits of staying in school to improve draft stock.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
