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I was really curious to see how the extra year would turn out and how many would come back. I think there's 2 reasons.
1. Every single recruit when they come to play at OSU thinks they're going to the NFL. I grew up in a town with a JUCO college and 95% of the players on that team legitimately thought they were going pro even though only a handful ever have from there. For most players, even if they love their school, the NFL is the goal, and if they have nothing left to prove then it's time to go take their shot, even if that means proving it on a practice squad. There's only so many years they can play football
2. I never played college sports, but I think it's easy as a fan to see the games on Saturday and think "that looks awesome, of course you should come back if you have a free year." When in reality, its months and months of hard work to get to play 13 games a year. I'm sure there's some seniors that have loved it, but feel as though its ran its course and its time to move on. We've even occasionally seen redshirt seniors who've graduated "retire" to go start their career in the world. I think its a similar feeling with this extra year.
But overall I will say, I expected more to come back
1. Every single recruit when they come to play at OSU thinks they're going to the NFL. I grew up in a town with a JUCO college and 95% of the players on that team legitimately thought they were going pro even though only a handful ever have from there. For most players, even if they love their school, the NFL is the goal, and if they have nothing left to prove then it's time to go take their shot, even if that means proving it on a practice squad. There's only so many years they can play football
2. I never played college sports, but I think it's easy as a fan to see the games on Saturday and think "that looks awesome, of course you should come back if you have a free year." When in reality, its months and months of hard work to get to play 13 games a year. I'm sure there's some seniors that have loved it, but feel as though its ran its course and its time to move on. We've even occasionally seen redshirt seniors who've graduated "retire" to go start their career in the world. I think its a similar feeling with this extra year.
But overall I will say, I expected more to come back
They have been in college 4 or 5 years already. They have played this season under significant stress, restrictions & minimal if any contact with family/friends. If the guys have pro potential, it isn't likely to improve much in the next year outside of special cases like Tay Martin. The guys without pro potential are probably ready to pursue a regular job or may even be a bit burned out with football. Most of their lives have revolved around sports. Even with a scholarship, being a broke college student gets old after awhile. I'm not really surprised at all.
As I said about Dillon Stoner in some other post, your time as a starter for a program like OSU's is the time when you build up the social-capital that you can trade in for opportunities after you're done playing that us regular joes don't get (from boosters, maybe, but at the least from fans who are in a position to offer such...it really is who you know). You want to maximize how much of that value you build up.
I will say this about Dillon, though: he's had a lot of impact/playing time over the last 4 years, so that's a little different than guys who finally made it out onto the field as juniors, and had their first full time starter situation as a senior. For the latter, staying one more year may double (probably more) that social capital.
I also come from the perspective of the many players I've heard say they love the game so much they'd do it for free (whether that's true or not is beside the point). My closest friend had such trouble giving up his playing days after high school that he played college ball at a low level, then semi-pro for a while at a level of financial backing worse than many high school teams, then he coached that team...all because he loved football so much. I hope all these guys aren't just burnt out. That would be, at least a little bit, an indictment of Mike Gundy (for us) and the NCAA (for all teams).
How many college starters do you realistically think consider themselves not to have a decent shot at the NFL? Even at that level, self-belief is typically not in short supply.
For these guys that do think they have NFL potential, it's a tradeoff: risk of injury for the chance to boost your football resume. Some guys may be legit scared they can't repeat the success of their most recent season. For Ogbongbamiga, I agree he's done so well that choosing to avoid further risk of injury is as good of a choice as any.
But all these guys aren't even close to being as good as they can be, which is why NFL rookies don't usually light up the league. So I guess we just disagree, especially for the borderline NFL guys, that they don't stand to gain much. ...unless you think having your best season yet and getting drafted in the 3rd round rather than going undrafted doesn't amount to much. Sure, Joe Burrow wouldn't have gone undrafted, but he's pretty much the best-case example. From projected 5th rounder to #1 pick in the draft...in the space of one senior season.
Also, consider that most people look back on college as "the good 'ole days". Now imagine what that's like when you're mr. big man on campus (or at least one of them) starter on one of the winningest power 5 football programs of the last decade. And you're on a full ride scholarship. With ridiculous amenities at your disposal.
I will say this about Dillon, though: he's had a lot of impact/playing time over the last 4 years, so that's a little different than guys who finally made it out onto the field as juniors, and had their first full time starter situation as a senior. For the latter, staying one more year may double (probably more) that social capital.
I also come from the perspective of the many players I've heard say they love the game so much they'd do it for free (whether that's true or not is beside the point). My closest friend had such trouble giving up his playing days after high school that he played college ball at a low level, then semi-pro for a while at a level of financial backing worse than many high school teams, then he coached that team...all because he loved football so much. I hope all these guys aren't just burnt out. That would be, at least a little bit, an indictment of Mike Gundy (for us) and the NCAA (for all teams).
How many college starters do you realistically think consider themselves not to have a decent shot at the NFL? Even at that level, self-belief is typically not in short supply.
For these guys that do think they have NFL potential, it's a tradeoff: risk of injury for the chance to boost your football resume. Some guys may be legit scared they can't repeat the success of their most recent season. For Ogbongbamiga, I agree he's done so well that choosing to avoid further risk of injury is as good of a choice as any.
But all these guys aren't even close to being as good as they can be, which is why NFL rookies don't usually light up the league. So I guess we just disagree, especially for the borderline NFL guys, that they don't stand to gain much. ...unless you think having your best season yet and getting drafted in the 3rd round rather than going undrafted doesn't amount to much. Sure, Joe Burrow wouldn't have gone undrafted, but he's pretty much the best-case example. From projected 5th rounder to #1 pick in the draft...in the space of one senior season.
Also, consider that most people look back on college as "the good 'ole days". Now imagine what that's like when you're mr. big man on campus (or at least one of them) starter on one of the winningest power 5 football programs of the last decade. And you're on a full ride scholarship. With ridiculous amenities at your disposal.
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And that's not even taking into account the ones who should stick around to complete their degree. Of course there are guys who really are extra "ready". Maybe they've just gotten engaged, they're going to graduate, and they already have a good gig lined up for their post-football career. I bet that's not most of the guys I'm talking about, though.
It makes me wonder, is 4 years really the sweet spot? If the NCAA permanently changed it to 5 years, would most 4-year seniors who aren't projected to go in the first two rounds still duck out after 4?
It makes me wonder, is 4 years really the sweet spot? If the NCAA permanently changed it to 5 years, would most 4-year seniors who aren't projected to go in the first two rounds still duck out after 4?
This has probably been posted before but how do the scholarships work for these Super Seniors? Is a school able to add any super senior that wants to return without impacting the number of scholarships available to other underclassmen? If 10 seniors opt to return, is the school essentially allowed to add 10 scholarships on top of their regular allotment?
I think all the points you have laid out to justifying returning are valid. It will be interesting to see how the numbers bear out NCAA wide.
It may end up being a lot more than I expected. It feels like a lot of guys have already committed to returning for a 5 or 6th year for OSU. I thought it might be more skewed towards seniors that never red-shirted returning.
Honestly, there are numerous individual factors for why a kid would leave or why a kid would stay. My reasons for them leaving is super simplified & generalized considering the myriad of possible personal motivations.
It may end up being a lot more than I expected. It feels like a lot of guys have already committed to returning for a 5 or 6th year for OSU. I thought it might be more skewed towards seniors that never red-shirted returning.
Honestly, there are numerous individual factors for why a kid would leave or why a kid would stay. My reasons for them leaving is super simplified & generalized considering the myriad of possible personal motivations.
On Trace ford, I was specifically talking about people who announced they are coming back, but that is why I didn't list DE as a position that needed young guys to step up. There was a huge drop off after Williams got hurt at CB, probably the thing that hurt us worst on defense this year, that is why I said they needed to step up
Guerin Emig: OSU's 2021 defense has a real shot to repeat 2020 success | OSU Sports Extra | tulsaworld.com
https://tulsaworld.com/sports/colle...b6cd762.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1
https://tulsaworld.com/sports/colle...b6cd762.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1
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Where he talks about who will replace Amen, if D. Harper is really coming back, I think that question is answered. I think he is as good as Amen anyway, so I don't think we'll see much drop off. If not, we've recruited a ton of linebackers the last couple years, so surely we can find one from the group.