If you thought things were tough for the NFL in terms of evaluating college football players, you ain't seen nothing yet.
With about half of college football still scheduled to play in the fall and the other half now planning a season in the spring, the process got a lot longer -- and perhaps more convoluted for Steelers GM Kevin Colbert and his scouting staff.
"Everything is so unknown," Colbert said Wednesday. "The schools that aren’t playing in the fall, they’re hoping to play in the spring. How does that affect a possible all-star game or a combine situation? Nobody knows because until we get our dates, we just have to work under the assumption things haven’t changed yet. In doing that, we have to cover schools that are playing, and we also have to evaluate the schools that aren’t playing on their film from 2019. If they play in the spring of 2021, we can add that to our evaluation."
And that doesn't even begin to include the dozens of players who have already opted out of participating this season and the dozens of more who will surely do so.
A number of high-profile players have already opted out. In fact, the Associated Press released its preseason All-America team earlier this week and it included five players -- including defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman of Pitt and Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons -- who have already told their schools they aren't playing this year.
For the players, it's a calculated move. They feel like their 2019 tape is good enough for them to be drafted highly. They don't want to risk injury. But it could hurt them in some cases.
"As we move into this year, the guys that are playing will be able to give us some type of 2020 film, which quite honestly, I will be much more comfortable in evaluating a player that plays in 2020 more so than the guy that doesn’t," Colbert said. "When you take over a year plus maybe two or three months off from the game of football, I don’t know what kind of player you are going to be coming out of it. Any way that a young man can play this given season, I think it will benefit him because we will have newer, fresher and a better understanding of what he may be moving into the NFL."
"As an organization, we will come to an understanding of the current situation," Colbert said. "Mr. (Art) Rooney, we don’t like to say a directive from him, but the suggested behavior of what the organization or how the organization would address it. That would be upon recommendations from not only myself but Coach Tomlin, the players and of course, the Rooneys."
