Oliver is ready for NFL, so why must he wait?
Why should Ed Oliver have to wait?
I found myself asking that question Tuesday morning, the day after the University of Houston’s one-man wrecking crew declared that he plans to enter the 2019 NFL draft.
Don’t panic, Cougars believers: You haven’t been asleep for a year.
The first round of the 2018 draft is still 50 days away. Oliver, who won the Outland Trophy as a sophomore, still must wait a full season until he can walk across a national stage, put on a pro cap, hold up one of 32 NFL jerseys and shake the hand of King Roger Goodell.
But during this era of rapidly declining belief in the virtues and purpose of the NCAA, we should be re-examining everything in college sports. The dissolution of old, outdated ways obviously shouldn’t just be relegated to the sham that is college basketball.
As the NCAA blows itself up, the NBA is getting ahead of the game. Pro basketball is taking a hard look at its ridiculous one-and-done rule — which short-changes colleges and limits
the boundaries of young athletes — while moving toward a deeper investment in its minor league-like developmental G League.
MLB has long thrived off of its farm systems. Baseball is the beacon that the NBA is trying to follow.
But the NFL? Still stuck in a tradition that mostly just benefits pro football. Years of free advertising in the rabid hype machines of high school and college athletics. A three- (or four-) year build up toward the all-mighty draft. Then months of breathless (and often worthless) overanalysis — the combine, pro days, competing against the wind in the underwear Olympics — all just for the right to finally be … drafted.
Then the chosen ones keep playing an incredibly violent game where little is guaranteed, guaranteed money is even rarer, and the average career tops out at a few incredibly brief years.
“I just wanted to be the best at anything I ever did.”
Oliver said that last September. Six months later, he’s clearly on his way.
For college football’s biggest names, the draft question hovers forever, then is finally answered after a regular-season finale or during the days following a young star’s last bowl game. Oliver — special and unique ever since he chose Tom Herman’s Cougars in February 2016 — leapt over a year’s worth of silly hints, teases and rumors by taking a tired process into his own hands and publicly placing his future on the table.
Future should be now
He’s a proud Coog — who’s also a future NFL first-round pick (and maybe the No. 1 overall) in waiting.
“Ed Oliver Announces Future Intentions” began a UH press release, which featured an announcement that overshadowed the team’s first spring practice for the 2018 season.
It should have read: Ed Oliver Enters 2018 NFL Draft.
And it would have, if the NFL’s guidelines for draft eligibility didn’t state this: “To be eligible for the draft, players must have been out of high school for at least three years. … Underclassmen and players who have graduated before using all their college eligibility may request the league’s approval to enter the draft early.”
Oliver was consistently double- and triple-teamed by opponents in 2017, playing for a Houston squad that dropped its bowl game and finished a disappointing 7-5. He still ended up as a consensus All-American, Nagurski Trophy finalist and has totaled 39½ tackles for loss in just 25 games with the Coogs. Not enough? The university lists 52 honors — 52! — for Oliver before even getting to the breakdown of his surreal 2017 statistics.
Oliver doesn’t need “approval” to enter the draft. The NFL wants and needs him — and pro football would be trumpeting his name hourly on its TV network right now if it could.
Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Bradley Chubb … Oliver. Let the debate begin over the real No. 1.
Part of the three-year wait is to allow young men to mentally prepare for all of the pressures and challenges that come with pro football. Part of it is also, obviously, physical. That partly makes sense — for normal, average people.
LeBron James debuted in the NBA at 18. Carlos Correa was a ripe 20 when he arrived in The Show.
But Oliver — and comparable, potential franchise-altering names — must wait three years post-high school just for the right to play the same game in the NFL?
Decisions understandable
No wonder young athletes are getting smarter and taking more ownership of their own futures.
Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped their final bowl games before entering the 2017 draft. Fournette, who played just seven games as a junior at Louisiana State, went No. 4 overall, then bulldozed for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie, as Jacksonville came a quarter away from Super Bowl LII. McCaffrey, selected No. 8 by Carolina, racked up 1,086 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns for the Panthers.
Oliver could be 2019’s version of No. 1 pick Myles Garrett last year — as long as he stays healthy for the Coogs this season and is still as valuable to pro football next April. Which means that sitting out 2018 and protecting his mega-millions future should also be on the table.
“This was a dream of mine coming in,” Oliver said Monday during his announcement, referencing his college time as a “business trip.”
Kudos for the honesty and directness.
Oliver has said all the right things and been everything the Cougars hoped for when he first chose them. He’s still promoting UH and openly embracing the thought of winning the Heisman in 2018.
But Oliver should be 50 days away from walking across the draft stage on national TV. The only thing holding him back from pro football is the NFL.