A full fledged NFL minor league system ?

[Blue Hen]

For fun & discussion :

Should the NFL be responsible for its own player development system or should that be the responsibility of college football ?.....as it currently is.

[GatorGrad]

I like the current setup. If the NFL had a feeder minor league system like baseball does, college football would suffer. The best players would leave quicker which is what has negatively affected college basekabll in the last decade or so. I would hate to see that happen to college football.

[Blue Hen]

No doubt, some great talent would forego the college route...on the other hand , many academically and cerebrally challenged kids would not have to be fraudulantly disguised as 'college' students. I think, in time, that CF would be just as great as it ever was. We would just have to get used to watching players that can read, write and talk ( on the college level ). The University of Florida, for example, would not have to offer 'no fail' majors like Leisure Service Recreation or Excercise Management to hide its FB dummies in. VT might be able to do away with Apparel Resource Management. Alabama hides kids in something called Human Performance..all the win-at-all-costs factories do it. Its fraud....no way around it.
I say let some of these athletically gifted kids do what they do best - play sports...and get paid for it, and not force them to be doing something that they cannot do or have little interest in doing.....being college students.
I honestly think that forcing the NFL to offer its own player development system would, in the long run, help and legitimize college football.

[GatorGrad]

But both the NFL and College Football would suffer nor is there any incentive for them to do it. I don't want college football turning into college baseball where all the top players go straight to the minors and college gets mostly leftovers who weren't good enough to get drafted after high school.

[Blue Hen]

I don't think "all" the top baseball players go straight into pro ball. I'd guess at least half of the US born major leaguers were drafted from college (again guess). I think there would still be plenty of talented kids available who actually desire a free college education and were actually capable of being a real college student.
Besides, GG, ....you're sitting up there in row www at Florida Field watching a game. You won't be able to tell the difference between a Gator cornerback who runs a 4.3 40, but belongs in a 6th grade remedial program from a 4.6 cornerback who is a genuine Uof F student. The games would look the same, although the talent and speed level would be slightly lower. Florida would still recruit well because it has much to offer genuine student-athletes, as it does pure hired athletes. Don't you think all the games would still sell out...even if the players could talk ?

[GatorGrad]

Perhaps...but as a fan of both college and pro football, I think both games would suffer a bit which I personally would prefer not to see. The NFL talent would become watered down like it has in the NBA ever since kids started leaving after just one or two years. The NFL Draft would not be nearly as exciting as you wouldn't even know the players who were being drafted since they are likely coming out of high school and not college. Of course, the level of play in college would go down. And the recruiting business would not be nearly as fun to follow. I see your point, but if I could choose one way or another, I would keep it as it is.

[Blue Hen]

GG, how would the "NFL talent become watered down" ????, and exactly how would the NFL game suffer? The NFL would suffer a tiny bit in its pocket because it would have to foot the bill for some player development instead of getting all that completely free...but how would the game suffer ?

[EvilVodka]

I'm with GatorGrad, this would suck

[GatorGrad]

GG, how would the "NFL talent become watered down" ????, and exactly how would the NFL game suffer? The NFL would suffer a tiny bit in its pocket because it would have to foot the bill for some player development instead of getting all that completely free...but how would the game suffer ?

Easy...the NFL game would suffer because the average age of incoming players would decrease year by year. Rigth now, pretty much every NFL Draft pick spends at least 3 years on a college campus. By the time they get drafted, they are usually 21 or older. Having a minor league system for the NFL would mean no more age limit which would lead to more teams signing younger players which would slowely water down the talent level and level of play as players who would normally still be in college would now be in the NFL, sometimes before they are ready or developed enough. Like in the NBA, the NFL Draft would be watered down as teams will start drafting younger talent based on nothing more than potential.

The NBA is the perfect example. 10-15 years ago, there was no such thing as leaving before your JR season. Now, NBA Execs pretty much assume there's something WRONG with you if you're a SR and never left early. They draft high school kids you've never heard of and let them take up a roster spot sitting on their bench collecting millions just for the hope that the prospect will blossom into the star they THINK he could be. The NFL, the NFL Draft, College Football, and Recruiting would never be the same. It's a nice idea...I just wouldn't not like that change.

[Stumpy Stew]

I have to disagree with the "NFL watered-down" statement. This idea proposed would be more like baseball. There would be minor leagues to instruct and evolve the talent, maybe at different levels. And then the best will rise to the top and be picked up by the NFL team. And you'd have not as many draft "busts" because these players would be playing in an NFL style play.

[Blue Hen]

NBA ??? C'mon GG, compare an NFL minor league system with MLB's.....much more relevant. Is MLB quality of play down because HS kids are drafted ??..of course not. The NFL quality would actually be improved........simply because the HS draftees would be learning the franchise NFL team's 'system' at the lower level. They will be 'better' NFL players , if and when they make the big show.

[Blue Hen]

exactly..........the young draftees will be learning the professional game right out of HS and will, generally be ahead of those kids spending 4-5 years learning the college game. The NFL would be even better with a full fledged minor league system.

[Blue Hen]

why ?

[GatorGrad]

Good points overall. I just think you would see the NFL get younger and younger with more teams investing in kids based on potential which would ultimately lower the level of play a bit. But this is minor. The game itself and NFL Draft would suffer more as fans would not be able to relate to the kids being drafted. The way it is now, we know the kids from college. This makes it exciting and is a big reason why the NFL Draft is so popular even for college fans. If teams were just drafting high school kids, it would lose its luster. It would be like MLB - their draft isn't even on TV because it's just drafting a bunch of high school kids who will go straight to the minors anyways. So college fans don't care because it's not their players being drafted, and MLB fans don't care because their favorite club's draft picks will be sent to the minors and not impact the real team for years in most cases. Finally, college football's talent and level of play would be drastically reduced which is the #1 reason for why I wouldn't want to see this.

[Blue Hen]

No doubt....the annual NFL draft would not be the big show business TV event it has been hyped up to be. But that's a small tradeoff for all the good an NFL minor league would bring.

Basically, A) a choice for talented athletes with pro football career goals. Kids can accept college scholarships, get an education, and then enter the NFL draft....or B) talented kids with zero interest in education or zero apptitude for higher education can enter the draft, start playing football and get paid for it..........and most importantly, not have to be 'fake' college students. 'Choice' is a good thing in American life, don't you think, GG ?
Sure, the talent level of big time CF would drop a bit, but the 'integrity' level of big time CF would increase drastically.....a very worthwhile tradeoff, imo.

[GatorGrad]

Again, it's a nice idea. Just not what I would like to see. Recruiting would be a mess - coaches would have to try to figure out which high school kids are serious about coming to college and which kids will want to go straight to the NFL Minors. And I assume the NFL would then get rid of their 3-year requirement meaning kids could leave school after their freshman or sophomore seasons. Coaches would spend a lot of time, money, and effort recruiting kids that might only play for you one or two seasons...or not at all!

In 2001, Billy Donovan spent years recruiting the #1 big man in the country...Kwame Brown. He committed to Florida and was set to be a Gator. In the last minute, he decides to forget about his letter of intent to come to Florida and sees the $$$ and goes straight to the NBA and becomes the #1 overall pick based on nothing more than potential. The NBA didn't send him to the minors...he road their bench for a few years. I just don't want to see these situations in college/pro football.

[Blue Hen]

" coaches would have to figure out which kids are serious about coming to college".......exactly, GG. Aren't college students supposed to be serious about a college education ? This is exactly why an NFL minor league system is such a virtuous idea. College coaches having to play and win with 'real' college students..imagine that. In recruiting, coaches would have to ask more than "how fast can you run 40 yds..or, how many pounds can you bench press". It would be beautiful, GG...........CF played by genuine student-athletes.....every one of them capable of verbalizing a coherent thought.

If you were obsessed with seeing the pure young gifted athletes play just get some season tickets to the Miami Dolphins' AA affiliate..the Deland Dragons...or whatever. This has been fun.

[GatorGrad]

Nah. I personally don't care how educated the actual players are. Why would I? I don't talk to them or hang out with them - I just watch them play football. And you act like 99% of these kids are pinheads. There ARE plenty of kids who appreciate their scholarship and the opportunity to get a free education from a first class university. Afterall, only a small % of recruits actually get a chance to move on and play in the NFL. It's a virtuous idea, but nothing I would want to see. I enjoy the level of play in college football, and the NFL Draft, as they are right now.

[Blue Hen]

Fair enough. I still think college football should have something to do with 'college'.

the pinhead #s = more like 50%, not 99%