As a handful of his former standout players on the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins square off in primetime on Monday night, LSU coach Les Miles has reached the point in every season where the next crop of underclassmen are considering professional aspirations.
But as he does every season, Miles attempts to convince certain juniors to return to Baton Rouge for one more season. At a news conference after the Tigers first bowl practice before the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl on Dec. 29, Miles said the message to those junior is based on the only thing that truly matters – what the league says.
“It’s more knowledge,” Miles said. “We wait until we get the NFL advice back. When that advice returns, we come alongside it because whatever it says is truth.
Miles said the program has asked for draft evaluations for “most” of the players eligible to be graded by the NFL. Although the NFL limits five players to be evaluated per school, the rules also allow for programs to request for more.
Although Miles wouldn’t acknowledge whether more than five players will be evaluated, which the program has done in the past, he is confident in the advice the NFL gives.
“I’ve been fortunate to be around one of those that say you will be taken in the first five picks – Jamarcus Russell was taken first. I’ve been around a guy that said you will be taken third, and daggonit it you’re not taken in the third round.
“I’ve not seen where the advice has been poor. I choose to emphasize the people that know.”
Because seniors are the first to be graded by the NFL, Miles said the NFL teams usually don’t risk taking a chance on an underclassman that doesn’t clearly show he is worthy of being selected. Hence, the evaluations should be taken seriously, which is the same for when a junior shows he is ready to move on, he said.
“For that junior to crack the lineup, he’s got to play to a certain level,” Miles said. “When he does, it’s pretty easy to see. But when he doesn’t – and even though they could potentially play him in years and he reach that level – he’s not going to get paid. They’re not going to make a mistake and say, ‘No, no, no, he’s worth more.’ It’s just the way it is.
Miles said former players such as defensive tackle Tyson Jackson, who decided to come back and was selected No. 3 overall in the 2009 draft, financially benefitted from another year rather than being selected in the third round after his junior season.
But that’s obviously not the case for every player.
“Certain guys, Michael Brockers, it just would have been a waste of time for him to come back – first-round draft pick, 12th. [Barkevious] Mingo, first-round draft pick. There are 13 of them that you just said, ‘It’s time to go, as much as we’d love to have you back.’”