The 2020 college football season will be different because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already announced that they will not be dropping football (the plan is to move the season to spring first), and that news came after many FCS conferences made similar announcements.
And while the remaining Power Five schools – the Big 12, the ACC and the SEC – seem ready to move forward with a season that will begin in late September, this also means that, from the perspective of the 2021 NFL Draft, hundreds of players are denied the opportunity to add a season of film to their resume.
Put another way, where would Joe Burrow be right now if he had not played the 2019 season for LSU?
Burrow, who was considered a pick 3 of day 3 12 months ago, put historic numbers on during LSU’s title run and parlayed this into the No. 1 general selection this spring. And what about Kyler Murray, the 5-foot-10 Oklahoma quarterback? Doesn’t make it general at first, has he even stepped up in the NFL without playing the 2019 season for the Sooners, especially since Majorland Baseball’s Oakland A’s had him drafted ninth to play outfield?
If you thought NFL evaluators had smarter-than-normal jobs this spring, without pro-days and private workouts, things are now unusually more difficult, as a subset of players hoping to make ends meet now college snaps have taken.
Here are some of those players who could benefit from a season 2020 college football.
Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
Fields transferred from Georgia and in 2019 immediately stepped in for Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State, where he threw 3,273 yards in his first season and completed 67 percent of his throws, including 41 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Fields ran for another 484 yards and 10 scores. And although he is a first-round talent, another year in the Buckeyes system would only improve his draft record; he has off-the-charts athleticism and plus-arm strength, but Fields needs to improve his accuracy on throwing downfield and his ball safety. There is a lot to love about his game and the expectation is that he will only get better with more reps. The good news is that Fields remains a likely first-round pick from August’s prospects, but there’s almost no chance he’s challenging Trevor Lawrence for the board’s first QB now that Ohio State’s fall season is over. canceled.
Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State
Athletically, Lance is in the same conversation as Lawrence and Fields, but he plays for FCS North Dakota State and the level of competition has always been a consideration. But how will NFL teams evaluate Lance now that the North Dakota State season has been canceled? The red dress on the other hand is raw; he does so many things at a high level, but he was every now and then too late to deliver the ball in the field and sometimes struggled with accuracy. He also played in a run-heavy offense that for most of last season did not lie on his arm. That said, Lance hit 28 touchdowns and zero interceptions as a redshirt freshman in 2019 and his talent is unquestionable. Notable: Jordan Love, who shares a similar skillset with Lance, was a first-round pick this spring; Lance, who had 17 ‘fewer interlocutors than Love in ’19, is a better prospect, despite not playing an FBS schedule.
Tanner Morgan, QB, Minnesota
Morgan does not have a strong arm, but he is one of the best anti-passers-by in the country. He also regularly makes good readings and delivers the ball on time and in a place that allows his receivers to maximize yards after catching. For us, he entered the 2020 season as a Day 3 prospect with the opportunity to improve this stock alone. Now he joins a long list of players who currently have no place to play this fall.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, QB, UCLA
This is an insanely athletic quarterback class and DTR is another example of that. There are flashes of just how good he can be, but he also needs to improve his decision making and do a better job of developing routes before he gets away from them, just to run. Of all the quarterbacks mentioned here, Thompson-Robinson probably had the most to prove for NFL teams.
Shaun Wade, CB, State of Ohio
There was some speculation that Wade could explain for the 2020 NFL Draft. Instead, he returned to Ohio State, where he was expected to show his ability to play outside after manning the slot for much of his Buckeyes career. There is no denying his talent, but now evaluators will not really have a sense of his versatility. Ohio State’s track record of producing defensive backs speaks for itself – Jeffrey Okudah and Damon Arnette were first basemen this spring – and Wade probably would have been no less than a Day 2 pick had he come out.
Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford
Last summer, Adebo was mentioned as a potential talent in the first round, but an up-and-coming 2019 campaign led him back to Stanford. He has many of the physical attributes that NFL teams look for in their cornerbacks, but he also needs to hone his technique, become stronger and prove he has the speed to run with any wide receiver.
Levi Onwuzurike, DL, Washington
Onwuzurike is a powerful, explosive line of defense from the inside that has sometimes taken over games for the Huskies, and at other times leaves you with more … which is not uncommon for college players to rate their games. That’s why Unwuzurike came back to school – to work on becoming consistent – and now he will not get that opportunity.
Aidan Hutchinson, DL, Michigan
Hutchinson’s versatility is one of his best attributes – he can play anywhere along the defensive line – but he also had to show evaluators that he can be more than an edge setter in the run game and has the ability to consistently play in the backfield. irritating and disturbed plays.
Dillon Radunz, LT, North Dakota State
Radunz is perhaps the second-best left tackle in this wear class behind Penei Sewell of Oregon. And maybe that’s enough to assure him he’s a first-round pick. But like college teammate Trey Lance, the lack of an fall season could be the difference between drafting, say, 30th overall and being a pick-top-10. In 2019, Radunz was rarely beaten, regularly dominated, and was an enormous part of Bison’s run-game success, but he also faced FCS competition. He would be a prime candidate for the Senior Bowl, where in a normal year he would have the chance to go up against some of the best draft-eligible edge rushers.
