the NFL has practice sqauds of 10 players, up to 16 this year because of Covid.

but to think that if the NFL had the ability to draft 18-20 year olds on the reg that they wouldn't expand their rosters in some capacity is kind of short sighted. they don't have to now because upsetting the status quo is pointless, but if some player ever got the 3 year rule thrown out, or 18-20 year olds found another league to play in and started staying in that league, the nfl would have its hand forced into expanding rosters, whether it is increases numbers on active rosters, practice quad rosters, a creation of a new transitional roster, actively attempting to create a minor league, or some other idea that lets teams control more players, it would. but it's only going to do those things if it's hands are forced because CFB is a defacto minor league for the NFL. the NFL doesn't get the revenue but they also avoid all the risk and get 3 years of scouting material on tens of thousands of players

I was going to mention practice squad but it hardly seemed worth it since it's such a meager development tool.

& yeah, the NFL would take on a development system if they had to, but it would cost them a ton of money & they'd have a hard time getting the best coaches since there would be significant incentive for them to stay in college where they'll continue to get paid more.

Maybe I missed the point of this argument?

i don't think starting a development league would be their first choice. i think they would just add roster space, specifically on the practice squad, as it's the simplest solution


i was responding to Skip's assertion that the NFL wouldn't draft 18 year olds, which i think they would given the opportunity

The NFL sets the draft rules. They have the most restrictive age minimum of all the major sports leagues by choice. If they wanted the opportunity to draft 18yos they would have it. The fact they don't tells you all you need to know.

.

Unless they change the years of control, very few would be drafted. Wouldn't get nearly enough surplus value out of rookie contracts compared to players who come in ready to play.

& if you do successfully develop them through practice squad work, they're an unrestricted free agent at 22 & you risk losing for nothing or overpaying.

Plus it's a total crapshoot. Here are the 2016 High School prospect rankings:

https://247sports.com/Season/2016-fo...oup=HighSchool

How many of these guys would you be happy your team drafted in 2016? 2 of the top 35?

Which is the point I have been making you pedantic ****. The NFL doesn't want the risk of drafting high schoolers. If they wanted they could go the NBA or MLB route and draft at 18 or 19, and college athletics would still exist as a de facto farm team, but they don't for very good reasons (some of which JM3 hit upon). For similar reasons the NBA went away from drafting right out of high school as well.

we already know that there are 21/22 year olds who are able to play in the NFL because it happens every year. hell, the 2020 draft top 10 had 8 players that age. Jedrick Wills was 20 and Burrow was the old man as like 40 or something (he was 23)

college restricts football activities heavily during the week. NFL does not. give an 18 year old an NFL coaching/training staff and program, he'll be ahead of where a rookie is at 20, all other things being equal.

so you think an NFL team wouldn't rather give big money to a 22 year old they developed for 4 years than to a 25 year old??? with few exceptions the league basically collectively laughs at teams that sign a non-qb skill position over 30 years old. it's a young mans game, and if given the opportunity, teams would try to get younger

also, teams don't lose good players for nothing. they get compensatory picks between rounds 3-7

You haz the smartz.

3 of 40 in 2015?

https://247sports.com/Season/2015-Fo...oup=highschool

Only if they have a net free agency loss.

wow, angry much?

the league is two fold here, which you seem to ignore. it's collectively bargained. the NFLPA has little reason to want it because it dilutes their current members standing. you think a 35 year old NFLPA member wants to add 18-20 year olds? **** no. he wants to hang onto his job as long as possible.

my point was if the possibility was there. it would take a maurice clarrett situation that the player won, then NFL teams would eventually vulture every top prospect they could roster because once one team does it, they're all gonna do it, then it becomes a shitshow like the NBA circa 2001.

Also if they're just using that compensatory pick to throw more darts at a board & hope to have a new player ready that will be ready to play by the last year of their contract, that pick isn't going to help much...

haha, AJ Brown is #36. nice cuttoff. 7 out of the top 10 are rostered on NFL teams, so not terrible...



but yes, it is a crapshoot. i never said it wasn't. every draft of every sport is a crapshoot. top 10 drafted QBs are like 50/50. for every Peyton Manning there is a Ryan Leaf.

You two are arguing with a dude that knows nothing about football. Maybe if you were discussing junction box covers it would be a worthwhile pursuit.

you're saying if a team turns a 7th round pick (or undrafted signing) into a 4th round pick, that is a bad thing? that's basically what belechick has done for 20 years and he's always been considered a great drafter. granted, now without TB12, it seems less so.

why don't you start discussing how they're all better athletes than us so we can't discuss how good they are, troll.

3 of the top 50?

Not if there's a 6% chance of that happening.

No one wastes more time on the intricacies & hidden value of compensatory picks than me & I am fully aware of their uses, but taking an 18 y/o on the off chance that he's good enough to some day warrant a compensatory pick because he realizes his value at the same time he becomes a free agent isn't the best use of the system.

what was the NBA drafting straight out of HS? like 2-3 guys/year?

jfc, nick bosa was 6-4/265 coming out of HS?!?!

Also, as a Patriots fan, I have to vehemently deny that BB is a great drafter, or that he's ever really been considered one.

They were way ahead of the curve regarding the value of future picks compared to current ones & the value of taking more shots to make up for how inexact of a science it is, but on the whole the Patriots have never been above average at actually selecting the correct player.

Another edge the Patriots had was letting go of a player a year too early rather than a year too late, along with great coaching & development.

10-15 iirc.

bolded - unless you're on a GM staff of an NFL team, i'm not sure how that could be possible.

current 6th and 7th round picks only have a 10-15% chance of making it to year 5, we're not talking about a large pool of players moving to second contrcts.

I seem to recollect completely wrong lol