Nick Saban wants the NFL draft grade process moved back
Nick Saban wants the draft grade process for underclassmen moved back into January.
The Alabama coach said Wednesday at SEC Media Days that his team's chemistry was affected by "something" in the lead up to the Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio State and pointed to the process of how underclassmen are analyzed by the NFL draft advisory board.
Underclassmen can submit for a round grade for the draft before bowl season begins. The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft is in the middle of January.
"I just felt like, in our experience last year, our team chemistry from the SEC Championship game to the playoff game was affected by something," Saban said. "I think that to have a December 15th deadline from when a junior can submit for a draft grade and then you get that assessment back sometime right before or right after Christmas, and then you have a playoff game coming up on January 1st or 2nd, and I think it's my obligation as a coach to inform that young man when I get that information because it's his information, it's not my information, to make him aware of that."
Alabama has seven picks in the 2015 NFL draft. Its first three, WR Amari Cooper, S Landon Collins and RB TJ Yeldon, were underclassmen and selected in the first two rounds.
Saban did not name names of any players possibly affected by their evaluation and players have the option of getting a grade from the advisory board. He continued:
"So we're trying to get ready for a game, and all of a sudden, a guy finds out he's a first round draft pick or a guy that thought he was a first round draft pick finds out he's not a first round draft pick, and we're trying to get ready to play a playoff game. I think that it would be better not to submit that information to a player until he was finished competing in college. We've moved the draft back. We have not moved the date that a player has to declare back. Now, those who oppose this type thinking would say, well, how would that affect recruiting? We used to play Bowl games on January 1st. Now the championship game's on January 11th or 12th, and the 15th is still the day that people have to declare for the draft. So I think a week, ten days would be beneficial, and I think a rule that says you don't get information to players on draft status until after they've completed their college competition would be beneficial."
If you're an Ohio State fan – or Alabama hater – you're likely looking at Saban's comments as an excuse of sorts for his team's performance in New Orleans. And while it is curious he's now raising these concerns seven months after the game, they may also have been perceived as even more of an excuse in February or March.
Besides, Saban has a point. As the NFL has pushed the draft back into May, the draft process wouldn't be impacted significantly if the underclassman deadline was also pushed back. If players were given their grades by the middle of January and given until the end of the month to decide, the two less weeks of draft lead-up isn't a big deal. The only potential issue would be the deadline falling after the start of spring classes. But if a player is on the fence about returning to school, he should already be enrolled for classes for the next semester.
For more Alabama news, visit TideSports.com.
- - - - - - -
Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
