SEC Football is back, much to the relief of 2021 NFL Draft prospects
SEC Football is back! Yes, for the last three weeks, fans of the game have been able to enjoy the game they love. While it looks quite different, it is football, and we will take what we can get. The ACC and BIG-12 have been back for a few weeks. The SEC makes their heavily anticipated return to play on September 26th, 2020.
Like other conferences, the SEC has lost some key players due to opt-outs. There are some players who have decided to return to school, such as Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth. In the SEC, LSU, the defending national champions, have been hit pretty hard. They already lost key pieces on defense like nose tackle Tyler Shelvin and slot cornerback Kary Vincent Jr. The big loss came last week when Ja’Marr Chase, the defending Biletnikoff winner, decided to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft.
However, there were a large amount of draft eligible players who decided to stay in school and play the 2020 season in SEC Football competition. With such an unprecedented off-season in both the NCAA and NFL, the 2021 NFL draft is shaping up to be an even larger headache than 2020. Evaluating will be harder than ever.
Evaluators will likely prioritize 2019 tape. However, there are some players who would not benefit from being judged off of their 2019 performance. There are a number of players who are looking to build off of 2019 and improve their draft stock. Players who were injured in 2019 suffer even more, as their most recent tape would be two years ago if they decided not to play in 2020.