North Carolina QB Mitch Trubisky said he's received a first-round grade from the NFL Draft Advisory Committee. However, that's not quite enough, by itself, for the Tar Heels' first-year starter to make a decision.
"It's just a first-round grade, and I'm trying to see if I can get more in-depth information around it. I'm sure some of the scouts have me at second round, or first round, but what I got back said first (round). And that's just an average," Trubisky said on Monday, per Scout.com.
The advisory committee provides feedback for college football's top underclassmen to help them decide whether to apply for early draft eligibility. The committee's format for feedback provides one of three grades for players: first round, second round, or a recommendation to return to college. The feedback doesn't provide any guarantees -- former Florida offensive lineman D.J. Humphries was advised to return to college and later was picked in the first round -- but it does give players an evaluation from NFL personnel executives and experts.
Trubisky (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) drew the attention of scouts this year in completing 69 percent of his passes (281 of 408) for 3,468 yards, 28 touchdowns and only four interceptions. In fact, one NFC executive projected him as a top-10 pick. This year's draft class is expected to be thin at the quarterback position, but Trubisky isn't yet ready to make a decision. He and other college underclassmen have until a Jan. 16 deadline to file for early draft eligibility. His Tar Heels will take on Stanford in the Dec. 30 Sun Bowl.
"I'm still trying to gain more information about it, because I still don't know as much as I would like. I'm very thorough in my research and I want to know everything I possibly can before I make a decision," he said.
While Trubisky seeks more information on his draft status, NFL scouts are having to catch up on Trubisky. As a first-year starter for the Tar Heels, he was a relative unknown entering the season. He might not yet have enough information on where he'd be drafted, but he's certainly no longer an unknown.
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