BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Soon after the season, several Alabama players will declare for the NFL draft with college eligibility left.
Likely candidates include receiver Amari Cooper and safety Landon Collins. Both are considered the best pro prospects at their positions.
When players ask for advice from coach Nick Saban, he is on the side of staying in school. He tells them a player who has been around college football for four or five years is more prepared for the NFL than someone three years out of high school.
"Football is one of the only games where there is no other place to develop players," Saban said. "There's no triple-A like in baseball. There's no D-League or whatever they call it in basketball where the NBA guys go. None of that. So once you make that decision (for the draft), it's kind of all or nothing."
Once players declare for the draft, they forfeit amateur status. If they don't get drafted by a pro team, they cannot return to college, unlike in baseball.
Unless the player is a sure first-round draft pick such as Cooper or Collins, Saban advises them to come back for their senior season to improve their draft status.
Besides being more mature, players can earn their degree and be ready for a career outside of football.
"I try to encourage our guys who aren't going to be top draft picks to stay in school," Saban said. "Last year, we didn't have success in convincing everyone about that, and I don't know if we'll be able to do it this year or not."
The NFL tried to slow the underclassmen leaving by advising them what kind of draft grade they get if they are a first- or second-round pick, or if they should go back to school.
However, if there are several with first-round grades they all come out but not all not be drafted that early or if at all.
"The inefficiency of the previous system in terms of the mistakes they made and the information people were getting and then what actually happened because it was too hard to evaluate," Saban said.
The NFL updated its policy for this year and allows only five players per team to receive an evaluation. Saban plans to only let who he thinks are the top players receive the evaluation.
"It's not really about where you get drafted," Saban said. "It's about what kind of career you're going to have and how long you're going to be able to play."
Saban enjoys working with players their entire careers. He likes their stories such as safety Nick Perry and offensive guard Arie Kouandjio coming back from injuries.
Kouandjio turned into one of the top linemen in the country this year, earned a master's degree and will have a shot at the NFL.
"I think it's getting more and more unusual to have fifth-year guys on your team," Saban said. "The dynamic of college has changed a little bit. But I think those kinds of guys who stick around in the program are very, very dedicated, usually very, very hard working."
Fifth-year seniors are vital for teams. Perry, Kouandjio, fullback Jalston Fowler and quarterback Blake Sims all became leaders this year.
They not only developed into stellar players, they shared their stories to inspire the younger athletes coming up. And they show them what's expected.
"There have been guys in the past who, when I was younger, they looked out for me, and they showed me how to do things," Kouandjio said. "That's the kind of role I take on myself. Rather than do a lot of lip service and talking, just try to show the younger guys how, to the best of my ability."
Kouandjio looked up to former Alabama standouts such as Chance Warmack, Barrett Jones, D.J. Fluker and Dont'a Hightower.
"I've been on great teams, and I've been on teams that lost three games, so I've seen both ends of it," Perry said. "I know what it takes to win. It has to do with doing the right things on and off the field, and that's something you have to teach the younger players because these young players come in and all they know is that we win championships year-in and year-out."
Perry remembers teammates growing complacent last season, expecting to win a national title. Then the Crimson Tide lost its last two games.
That motivated this group to come back strong this season. Those lessons are passed down to the freshmen.
"You have to push yourself," Perry said. "We felt that last year. We lost to Auburn and then lost to Oklahoma, so they kind of felt that a little bit. So we know what we have to work for."
Saban feels the stress of rebuilding his team each year because he has to develop and recruit not only players to replace the seniors, but the potential juniors leaving.
He would rather have more seniors each year to play and lean on to guide the group.
"There's a big difference between an 18- and 23-year-old," Saban said. "The more of that you can have on your team, the absolute greater the impact might be."
Decatur Daily—Continue reading...
Likely candidates include receiver Amari Cooper and safety Landon Collins. Both are considered the best pro prospects at their positions.
When players ask for advice from coach Nick Saban, he is on the side of staying in school. He tells them a player who has been around college football for four or five years is more prepared for the NFL than someone three years out of high school.
"Football is one of the only games where there is no other place to develop players," Saban said. "There's no triple-A like in baseball. There's no D-League or whatever they call it in basketball where the NBA guys go. None of that. So once you make that decision (for the draft), it's kind of all or nothing."
Once players declare for the draft, they forfeit amateur status. If they don't get drafted by a pro team, they cannot return to college, unlike in baseball.
Unless the player is a sure first-round draft pick such as Cooper or Collins, Saban advises them to come back for their senior season to improve their draft status.
Besides being more mature, players can earn their degree and be ready for a career outside of football.
"I try to encourage our guys who aren't going to be top draft picks to stay in school," Saban said. "Last year, we didn't have success in convincing everyone about that, and I don't know if we'll be able to do it this year or not."
The NFL tried to slow the underclassmen leaving by advising them what kind of draft grade they get if they are a first- or second-round pick, or if they should go back to school.
However, if there are several with first-round grades they all come out but not all not be drafted that early or if at all.
"The inefficiency of the previous system in terms of the mistakes they made and the information people were getting and then what actually happened because it was too hard to evaluate," Saban said.
The NFL updated its policy for this year and allows only five players per team to receive an evaluation. Saban plans to only let who he thinks are the top players receive the evaluation.
"It's not really about where you get drafted," Saban said. "It's about what kind of career you're going to have and how long you're going to be able to play."
Saban enjoys working with players their entire careers. He likes their stories such as safety Nick Perry and offensive guard Arie Kouandjio coming back from injuries.
Kouandjio turned into one of the top linemen in the country this year, earned a master's degree and will have a shot at the NFL.
"I think it's getting more and more unusual to have fifth-year guys on your team," Saban said. "The dynamic of college has changed a little bit. But I think those kinds of guys who stick around in the program are very, very dedicated, usually very, very hard working."
Fifth-year seniors are vital for teams. Perry, Kouandjio, fullback Jalston Fowler and quarterback Blake Sims all became leaders this year.
They not only developed into stellar players, they shared their stories to inspire the younger athletes coming up. And they show them what's expected.
"There have been guys in the past who, when I was younger, they looked out for me, and they showed me how to do things," Kouandjio said. "That's the kind of role I take on myself. Rather than do a lot of lip service and talking, just try to show the younger guys how, to the best of my ability."
Kouandjio looked up to former Alabama standouts such as Chance Warmack, Barrett Jones, D.J. Fluker and Dont'a Hightower.
"I've been on great teams, and I've been on teams that lost three games, so I've seen both ends of it," Perry said. "I know what it takes to win. It has to do with doing the right things on and off the field, and that's something you have to teach the younger players because these young players come in and all they know is that we win championships year-in and year-out."
Perry remembers teammates growing complacent last season, expecting to win a national title. Then the Crimson Tide lost its last two games.
That motivated this group to come back strong this season. Those lessons are passed down to the freshmen.
"You have to push yourself," Perry said. "We felt that last year. We lost to Auburn and then lost to Oklahoma, so they kind of felt that a little bit. So we know what we have to work for."
Saban feels the stress of rebuilding his team each year because he has to develop and recruit not only players to replace the seniors, but the potential juniors leaving.
He would rather have more seniors each year to play and lean on to guide the group.
"There's a big difference between an 18- and 23-year-old," Saban said. "The more of that you can have on your team, the absolute greater the impact might be."
Decatur Daily—Continue reading...
