LSU RB Leonard Fournette skipped LSU’s bowl game to fully rehab his injuries though he could play if he wanted, and now Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey will also be skipping a bowl game to draft prep.

Here are the details on Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey skipping out:

pic.twitter.com/zeGcGtWlPy

— Christian McCaffrey (@CMccaffrey5) December 19, 2016

Link if the tweet does not appear: https://twitter.com/CMccaffrey5/status/810850259530301440

I have no problem with this.

Why risk your body for free so that your college can make a few million in ONE NIGHT while you get $0.00 of that and risk all your future earning potential? These guys fulfilled their duties to the school for the season and now it’s time to take care of home.

In the future you will see almost all players skip the bowl season much like top NBA players and the Olympics.

First and foremost, I always wait a few weeks to unveil my first mock. That allows me to aggregate mocks from all over the web before I get to ranking my prospects. I routinely saw McCaffrey mocked in the bottom of the first so I had to of course consider placing him in my mock.

McCaffrey is commonly listed as a running back but that is kind of a misnomer. He does it all for Stanford. He can return, rush, and catch the ball as well as anyone on the roster.

The sophomore posted a whopping 2684 total yards from scrimmage last season and was in the top five for Heisman balloting. He is without a doubt the heads and shoulders favorite going into the summer of 2016.

I expect McCaffrey to be picked around the 15-20 spot in the 2017 draft. Draft pundits are going to make that last “white guy to white guy” comparison and compare him to Wes Welker but McCaffrey is more in Reggie Bush’s lane as a player (before the injuries.)

Flip the page to see why…

Well… the business is still unfinished as Barkley and his Trojans fell to Stanford in a thriller Saturday night.

To his credit, Barkley didn’t look horrible and the loss of course doesn’t rest squarely on his shoulders. USC’s defense couldn’t get Stephan Taylor off the field when it mattered, and it’s offensive line could not create a clean pocket for Barkley to work in the second half.

Barkley had his moments, such as the clutch fourth down sideline throw to Marquise Lee but for the most part he was disrupted and relied on quick screen passes.

Going forward I think Barkley will fall behind someone in the quarterback rankings but who? Tyler Wilson is beat up and didn’t even play and Logan Thomas isn’t even on the pro radar right now with his string of bad games.

It’s a long way from the 2013 draft. It will be very telling to see how Matt Barkley rebounds from this loss.

Cardinal head coach David Shaw confirmed via a statement Friday afternoon that Skov has been fully reinstated to the Stanford football program. He will, however, have to serve a one-game suspension at the beginning of the new football year as part of the reinstatement process.

Shayne lead the Cardinal in tackles in 2011 and will likely do so in 2012.

A pair of Quarterbacks, two running backs, and a lone corner back will hear their names called on the final Heisman vote. Here are the lucky players who made it this year:

• Robert Griffin III, QB Baylor
• Montee Ball, RB Wisconsin
• Andrew Luck, QB Stanford
• Tyrann Mathieu, CB LSU
• Trent Richardson, RB Alabama

There are great reasons for each and every player to win this years Heisman.

Robert Griffin III has done the impossible at Baylor, keeping them in the BCS hunt and finishing the year with an impressive last second defeat over Oklahoma. Any QB that wins 9 games at Baylor deserves to be on this list.

Video: Robert Griffin beats Oklahoma with Last Second TD

Montee Ball and Trent Richardson have simply ran over the competition. Though you can argue that Ball has elite blockers in front of him, you cannot deny his 32 touchdowns on the season. Richardson finished up the year strong with a 203 yard performance over Auburn that will stand out in voter’s minds as well.

Andrew Luck was in a class of his own and was favored to win the award from the beginning of the season. He hasn’t had a true standout game but has played very well, and kept his team in the BCS National Title hunt. His lack of a big “signature win” and losing to #7 Oregon in a nationally televised game will be kinks in his campaign, though the overtime thriller win over USC helps.

Tyrann Mathieu is a player who undoubtedly has been the best defensive player in the nation all season. Though he served a 1 game suspension, he still accounted for 4 touchdowns and has scored every possible way a defender can. The fact that he is the standout player on the #1 LSU defense only strengthens his campaign. All in all, he’s played about as well as a defender can play in a Heisman win.

Is Tyrann Mathieu the Best Defensive Player in the Country?

The official prediction: Robert Griffin III QB Baylor.

Right now in the NFL there is a “race to the bottom” to see who can lose enough games *looks at Miami Dolphins*  to earn the right to draft the Stanford passer.  Not only has Andrew shown he can pass, truck defenders, but also catch one handed passes.

Video below:

“Quarterbacking: So easy a caveman can do it!”

5. Matt Barkley QB USC

Funny that the second best Quarterback in this class, and probably the one that will have the best career in the NFL  is so far down on this list (remember Luck is going to go to the worse team in the league and struggle for five years).

4. Denard Robinson QB Michigan

With his yardage totals, you have to put him in this list.  Although he is like Ted Ginn at QB.

3. Landry Jones QB Oklahoma

Currently has seven career games with four plus touchdowns.  Allegedly Bob Stoops calls him the next Sam Bradford.

2. Kellen Moore QB Boise State

He will beat Colt McCoy’s all time win’s record this year.  That alone means allot.

1. Andrew Luck QB Stanford

The best QB since John Elway?  That’s what Colin Cowherd said.  Once in two decades type of prospect.

Wait! That could be a NCAA violation! Maybe they should send him a Facebook “thank you” message instead….

Anyways, one quarterback that should send Luck a Christmas card, some strippers, and throw him a birthday party this year is Jimmy Clausen of the Carolina Panthers.  He finished his rookie season with the worst QB rating of starting quarterbacks and also the worst pass yard per game average in the league. I’ve already outlined why I think he deserves another chance to prove his worth to the franchise, but it surely looked like Carolina was prepared to move on after just one year.

With Luck out the picture there will be no more excuses for Jimmy Clausen.  He’s had a year “under the gun”.  He is going to get Jeff Otah, Trevalle Wharton, and De’Angelo Williams back on offense.  He may get AJ Green as well on offense.  And last but certainly not least he won’t have to look over at the sideline and see Andrew Luck ready to take his job.

Everything that Clausen does good or bad this year will forever be linked to what the Panthers could of had with Luck on offense.  While Luck is running a Heisman campaign next year, Panthers fans will be stuck with Clausen for better or worse.  A few bad games again and the seat is going to get really hot for Clausen.  Don’t rule out Tony Pike getting a shot if things get that bad.

All in all, 2011 is going to be “the year of Clausen and Luck” in Carolina.  Jimmy has to play well, or the Panthers may be in the position to take Luck AGAIN in 2012!  Now wouldn’t that be a story?!

Note: If you are visiting from BlackSportsOnline or Twitter please take a moment to subscribe to the RSS feed and check out our NFL Draft

The Carolina Panthers have to be scrambling right about now.  Andrew Luck, the consensus #1 player on everyone’s draft board has decided that he will not be entering the NFL Draft in 2011.  This is huge news to say the least.

A lot of people have speculated that if a rookie cap is done, Luck could stand to lose as much as $60 million dollars by staying in college.  This reminds many of the Matt Leinart situation, where Matt was going to be the #1 selection but instead decided to stay in school and fell to #11 in the following year.

Luck will go back to a Stanford team that will probably lose it’s coach in the next few days.  However, they stand to start the season with a top 5 ranking and will be in the National Championship picture if they run the table.  There’s a lot of things money can buy, but memories of winning a championship with your college buddies are one of the things money can’t buy.

On the Panthers side of the deal, the team has to be worrying about what to do with that elephant right now.  The #1 overall selection is going to be hard to unload without a clear cut top prospect on the top of the board.  Carolina may be forced to select AJ Green since they do have Jimmy Clausen developing.  Then again they are still looking to replace Julius Peppers and DaQuan Bowers could be the move there.

We will see what happens, but one things looks certain.  Carolina has a lot of decisions to make between now and the draft!