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Dortch leaving for NFL

144* players declared early for the 2019 NFL draft, 49 of those were not selected . There were 254 players selected over 7 rounds. So 159 players taken had no eligibility remaining and 95 underclassman were selected. 35% of underclassmen went undrafted, which is a comparable percentage to last year, despite only 106 underclassmen declaring last year.

As the numbers of underclassman declaring grows every year, I hope the NFL looks at what the NBA is doing and allows players to remove themselves from the draft during the process. It may create havoc with scholarships, but you would think that once players are in the process, and get more information from outside sources, they may reconsider their decisions.

*33 of the 144 had enough credits to graduate with eligibility remaining, you see different numbers on the internet.
 
KingW said:
Not familiar enough with professional football, but is there a real possibility that Greg Dortch, as good as he was, has played his last game of serious football? In basketball, any good high Division 1 player can hook on with a pro team somewhere. The downside risk of going pro early in football seems exponentially more severe.
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Definitely more opportunity in basketball, but it's not like it's the NFL or nothing for football. You can make a decent living playing a game in the CFL or Arena League. The injury risk is definitely exponentially more severe in football, so jumping early makes that much more sense.
 
Help me understand why being drafted is so important in the 6/7 rounds as opposed to being a UDA. If your objective is to showcase what you can do, and as a UDA you get some say in which team you get to showcase your skills to, how is that so bad? Is it just the financials? All you need is for one coach to buy into you in order to make the 53 man roster. If Dortch is a New York Jet this fall, he won’t care that he didn’t get drafted and in fact will be glad that he got to choose his team, correct?
 
DeacDaddy said:
Help me understand why being drafted is so important in the 6/7 rounds as opposed to being a UDA. If your objective is to showcase what you can do, and as a UDA you get some say in which team you get to showcase your skills to, how is that so bad? Is it just the financials? All you need is for one coach to buy into you in order to make the 53 man roster. If Dortch is a New York Jet this fall, he won’t care that he didn’t get drafted and in fact will be glad that he got to choose his team, correct?
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Contract terms and money. Also teams may be willing to give a draft pick more time to develop vs. UDFA.

He has to make a 53 this year or his chances of sticking in the league are very low. Jets seem like one of the best teams for him.

Victor Cruz became a camp sensation for the Giants as a UDFA, that’s what Greg needs.
 
I think you're much more likely to land on a practice squad as a draft pick than as a UDFA. Also years later, a guy can say "I got drafted" instead of "I participated in rookie minicamp."
 
PaddyWF said:
Contract terms and money. Also teams may be willing to give a draft pick more time to develop vs. UDFA.

He has to make a 53 this year or his chances of sticking in the league are very low. Jets seem like one of the best teams for him.

Victor Cruz became a camp sensation for the Giants as a UDFA, that’s what Greg needs.
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I just looked up Cruz, and two interesting things: (1) he only really played two years of college ball at the FCS level (UMASS); and (2) I thought he was a small receiver but wiki has him at 6 foot. While that is probably small by NFL standards, it highlights just how short Dortch is.

On the debate about whether Dortch should have stayed or gone, I lean toward him having made the right call. He could have gotten hurt next year or had a bad year and not even had an UDFA shot. He also could have gone gangbusters (more likely) and wound up having some snag him late. While getting drafted would be better, it sounds like the knocks on him were size and speed - neither of which were going to chance.
 
If Dortch makes the Jets, then it won't have mattered if he was a UFA or a draft pick, at that point, your ability to earn and stick with the team is based on production on the field. If Dortch doesn't make the Jets (or any other team), then an argument could be made that failing to be drafted contributed to his failure to not make the team.

As for the signing bonus, 7th round picks receive a signing bonus ranging from $75K to $110K( https://heavy.com/sports/2019/04/nfl-draft-pick-salaries-contracts-signing-bonuses/ ), UFA's have no limitation on their signing bonus, and some have signed for six figures, but most receive less than $50K. It appears that Dortch was considered a high-end UFA. Guessing he got something around $50K or slightly better.
 
wakelaw13 said:
If Dortch knew he would not get drafted, do you think he would have left? I don't. I think he made a tough decision, and I agree with TC he could have improved his draft stock. Wish him the best and hope to buy his jersey someday.
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I’d love one of the wake reporters to ask him this and more about his decision to leave early. And what Clawsons’ take was.

But there was really no indication he was going to be a mid-round pick. Every mock I saw had him at last round/udfa territory expect for one. So he must have known that was a real possibility and still wanted to take the shot.
 
How many AA's have gone undrafted? Maybe he thought he was a lock. Can't be many.
 
hopefully he sticks with the Jets or another NFL team and ends the debate.
 
If we live in a current reality where leaving with two years of eligibility to go undrafted is superior to playing two more years of P5 football, then it’s a screwed up world.
 
That's a nice way of chris boles to frame that question.
 
Atlanta Deacon said:
If we live in a current reality where leaving with two years of eligibility to go undrafted is superior to playing two more years of P5 football, then it’s a screwed up world.
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why? because nothing is better than playing college fb?
 
Pilchard said:
As for the signing bonus, 7th round picks receive a signing bonus ranging from $75K to $110K( https://heavy.com/sports/2019/04/nfl-draft-pick-salaries-contracts-signing-bonuses/ ), UFA's have no limitation on their signing bonus, and some have signed for six figures, but most receive less than $50K. It appears that Dortch was considered a high-end UFA. Guessing he got something around $50K or slightly better.
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Phillip Lindsay was initially offered $8k last year (and given 15 minutes to decide), and the Broncos increased it to $15k
 
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