CDM on players who enter draft early and go undrafted

[Leroy Jenkins]

http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=...antage-of-kids


A pair of Mississippi State juniors who left school early went undrafted last weekend, and Dan Mullen doesn?t believe enough players are getting the right advice.

Of the 107 players who left school with eligibility remaining, 30 went undrafted. Each player has their own reasons for leaving, some of which isn?t public, but Mullen believes some are getting bad advice and aren't maximizing their chances to succeed.

?I talk to all them. The advice I?d give to future players is the same advice I gave to them,? Mullen said on the SEC West coaches teleconference. ?Make sure you?re doing your research and be very, very smart and try to listen to people that you trust and will help you make the right decisions.

?Too many times in the process, people are trying to sell kids everything. They?re trying to take advantage of these kids. They?re trying to sell them a dream. Sometimes, when people tell them the truth and the reality, they don?t like that.?

The two Mississippi State players who went undrafted, wide receiver De?Runnya Wilson and linebacker Beniquez Brown, each signed UDFA deals. Another underclassman, defensive lineman Chris Jones, was picked in the second round.

Mullen said he's always upfront with players, but they don't all want to hear that. He can only hope they listen to the right people.

?Most people like to be told what they want to hear, not what they need to hear sometimes,? Mullen said. ?In the (past), we?ve had some guys leave early and be very successful, and we kind of knew that was going to happen and we talked to those guys. One of the players that was drafted this year, he said something great to me, which I love to hear from young men: 'Coach you don't always tell us what we want to hear, you?re always going to tell us the truth. It?s amazing how you tell things are going to be and how they turn out that way.?

?I said, ?It?s because I care about you guys and want to make sure you?re successful and understand the situation you?re getting into.? I think guys in the future are going to have the opportunity to look at that situation and hopefully listen to people who give them advice and then make good decisions off the advice they get.?

[DawgHouseUnited]

Love this, especially compared to the faux love that more often than not leads to the underside of a bus at NMU.

[Commercecomet24]

There couldn't be more polar opposites than Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze. Dan cares, he's straight up and honest with these kids even if they don't like what he's saying. They'll probably appreciate that at some point. Freeze is a parasite and a user who will say or do anything to get what he wants. Proud Dan Mullen is our coach!

[MaroonFlounder]

Bear didn't get a free agent deal. Not sure why we all thought he was on board with the Patriots.

[TippyToe_Dawg]

You are correct, Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze are polar opposites. One is a Christian and the other is a Scientologist. I'm not saying which is which but Hugh does have two life size posters of Tom Cruise and John Travolta in his closet which is where he's been spending a lot of his time lately.....just sayin

[gravedigger]

Bear didn't get a free agent deal. Not sure why we all thought he was on board with the Patriots.

Because he posted something with the pats helmet and a reporter ran withit.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Bear didn't get a free agent deal. Not sure why we all thought he was on board with the Patriots.

Because he was invited to Patriots rookie camp with a chance to earn a deal.

[AlSwearengen]

I remember people on this board saying that Beniquez would be possibly be drafted as high as the third round. I am far from a scout, but I always thought he was a little small and a little slow. High football IQ, but he didn't have the measurables to go that high.

[PSYCHO(thesis)DEFENSE]

I remember people on this board saying that Beniquez would be possibly be drafted as high as the third round. I am far from a scout, but I always thought he was a little small and a little slow. High football IQ, but he didn't have the measurables to go that high.

I said that. In hindsight I was being overly optimistic based on how much everyone said the Packers liked him. Apparently they liked him enough to sign but not enough to draft. No way did I think he'd go undrafted. He was drafted in every 7-round mock draft I could find, and usually gone by the 5th. I agree his measurables weren't there, but somebody had to have thought highly of him to give him good feedback & put his name out to the prognosticators like that. That person obviously wasn't picking players on draft day though.

Does anyone know if players talk to or get info from individual team scouts when they get request feedback after their junior year? Or is it just a blanket grade from a collection of scouts? Just thinking if Beni got feedback from a scout who loved him, but didn't have much influence over a particular team, that could've been enough to sway him.