It's been gnawing at me for weeks, but while watching last night's game, it became painfully obvious to me. EVERY SINGLE BRUIN UNDERCLASSMAN THINKING ABOUT GOING TO THE NFL, WOULD BE MAKING A GIGANTIC MISTAKE IN DOING SO (excluding Myles Jack). This includes Kenny Clark and Paul Perkins, Caleb Benenoch and Conor McDermott. Duarte, Moreau, Goforth, etc etc etc. Not only are they not ready, the NFL is not ready for them. And the latter is a more important consideration.
I am a fan of history and I truly believe in paying attention to it. And the recent history of Bruins in the NFL has been tragically bad. Despite our desires to see our Bruins in the NFL as stars, the simple truths are: we have ZERO stars, 1 pro bowler (who is a full time special teamer like Steve Tasker was), and only 2 full-time starters. Those full time starters happen to play for the same team who we will finally see on national TV tonight...the first starters to call out UCLA in a full season of Sunday Night Football. Isn't that amazing? It took 16 weeks to hear one starter from UCLA.
Think about all our recent Mora-era studs:
- Hundley isn't going to see the field anytime soon and has to hope for a trade.
- Sua Filo has been talked about as a colossal bust in Houston and only got to start this season due to injuries.
- Datone has been a nice gap player for the Packers, but does not start.
- Shaq Evans hasn't made a squad.
- Zumwalt hasn't seen the field.
- Owa has been hurt.
- Cassius has played sparingly.
- Joe Fauria hasn't resurfaced after flashing in the pan in Detroit.
- Rahim Moore has disappeared off the NFL planet.
- Even Forbath has been jumping around the league.
- Johnathan Franklin got hurt and has been advising his Bruin peers not to be in such a hurry to get to the NFL.
- And then there's current NFL FA Ellis McCarthy...you think he might have been helpful this season for us? Just a bit????
I mean, what does it say about our program's ability to put players in the league when our best and most stable NFL players are Matt Slater and Jeff Locke - two special teams guys?
I really hope some of our current players pan out as stars in the league. Myles is lock, I think. Payton has an excellent shot, teams are going to love his willingness to block and be physical and make tough grabs in traffic - think Hines Ward. Can Kenny Clark turn himself into an Aaron Donald-like difference maker? Maybe. But until they do, guys like Wole who unabashedly want to go to a college at which they will be groomed for the NFL, will not choose UCLA. Given recent history, he made a great personal choice for himself. SC is producing multiple NFL studs. UCLA is not.
So...not only do we need these guys to come back to finish what they started, they need to come back because they need to get the damn stars out of their eyes. NFL stardom for UCLA early entries is not a reality, and to think that these guys can alter that history is foolish. They are not good enough. They are not fast enough. They are not strong enough. And UCLA is not a good enough program. If we want to get better for 2016, the most important recruits are the juniors on the current roster.
Thoughts?
I am a fan of history and I truly believe in paying attention to it. And the recent history of Bruins in the NFL has been tragically bad. Despite our desires to see our Bruins in the NFL as stars, the simple truths are: we have ZERO stars, 1 pro bowler (who is a full time special teamer like Steve Tasker was), and only 2 full-time starters. Those full time starters happen to play for the same team who we will finally see on national TV tonight...the first starters to call out UCLA in a full season of Sunday Night Football. Isn't that amazing? It took 16 weeks to hear one starter from UCLA.
Think about all our recent Mora-era studs:
- Hundley isn't going to see the field anytime soon and has to hope for a trade.
- Sua Filo has been talked about as a colossal bust in Houston and only got to start this season due to injuries.
- Datone has been a nice gap player for the Packers, but does not start.
- Shaq Evans hasn't made a squad.
- Zumwalt hasn't seen the field.
- Owa has been hurt.
- Cassius has played sparingly.
- Joe Fauria hasn't resurfaced after flashing in the pan in Detroit.
- Rahim Moore has disappeared off the NFL planet.
- Even Forbath has been jumping around the league.
- Johnathan Franklin got hurt and has been advising his Bruin peers not to be in such a hurry to get to the NFL.
- And then there's current NFL FA Ellis McCarthy...you think he might have been helpful this season for us? Just a bit????
I mean, what does it say about our program's ability to put players in the league when our best and most stable NFL players are Matt Slater and Jeff Locke - two special teams guys?
I really hope some of our current players pan out as stars in the league. Myles is lock, I think. Payton has an excellent shot, teams are going to love his willingness to block and be physical and make tough grabs in traffic - think Hines Ward. Can Kenny Clark turn himself into an Aaron Donald-like difference maker? Maybe. But until they do, guys like Wole who unabashedly want to go to a college at which they will be groomed for the NFL, will not choose UCLA. Given recent history, he made a great personal choice for himself. SC is producing multiple NFL studs. UCLA is not.
So...not only do we need these guys to come back to finish what they started, they need to come back because they need to get the damn stars out of their eyes. NFL stardom for UCLA early entries is not a reality, and to think that these guys can alter that history is foolish. They are not good enough. They are not fast enough. They are not strong enough. And UCLA is not a good enough program. If we want to get better for 2016, the most important recruits are the juniors on the current roster.
Thoughts?
