Just saw Caleb Williams declined medical exam at combine (1 Viewer)

[No2DC]

Again, I'm not saying their is anything wrong with Williams. I don't pay attention to USC and I haven't paid much attention to him because there is zero chance he is on the board when the Saints select. All I'm saying is if I ran a team, before I decided whether or not to draft him, I would want to interview him, have dinner with him, hang out with the facility with him, talk to his family and friends, have a medical check, and run a background check. It's the same thing I would do with any player that I was about to spend a high draft pick on and basically guarantee a lot of money. And, I don't care if that happens at the Combine, on a private visit, or at a Pro Day. The advantage to doing it at the Combine for players is that it only has to be done once and then it is shared with all the teams. But, if I ran a team, I wouldn't care if a player doesn't want to do the medical at the Combine, as long as they do it.

And, I already said that with NIL, especially at USC, you already more or less know how they will handle fame and fortune so I'm not sure why you are posting that in response to me.

I wasn't disagreeing with you, and he's already said he'll do the interview/medical stuff with a few teams. I just think for elite candidates, the combine is just a show. Conversely if you're a boaderline guy like JJ or Penix, you absolutely have to stand on the auction block

 

[Tulsa Saint]

Not really. Combine this with demanding part ownership, blah, blah, blah. I would want no part of him. But that's just me.

My problem is he wasn't good against actual defenses. He's a very good prospect admittedly but he isn't say the nbas victor wembanyama in terms of THAT type of can't miss prospect.

 

[Elvis]

I don’t love Caleb’s approach on a lot of this stuff related to the draft - but I will say, he’s raising some relevant points about the pre-draft process.

The NFL has made something that was long done behind closed doors into a spectacle and money making content for their brand in an effort to remain relevant at a time when their season is over.

Williams decision to not participate in the cattle call is no-doubt going to lead to all the chatter you hear now about him being a diva - and it may be true - but he’s already a multi-millionaire with his NIL deals so he’s got the leverage to say “why would I do this if I don’t have to?”

Again, the NFL loves their perfectly packaged pieces of content from now to the end of training camp - so I enjoy when there’s someone who can say “yeah, no thanks”.

I don’t always agree with his methods but I have a hard time arguing with his reasoning.

The reason the cap goes up every year, and by extension all players salaries, is because the "spectacles and money making content for the brand" brings in a boat load of money. Turning the NFL into an all year thing has been nothing but good for the players and few draftees at the top that don't participate are thumbing their noses at the money machine that is about to enrich them beyond the dreams of most human beings in the world.

 

[Doobsdemons]

A locker room cancer b4 he steps into one

 

[kwkrnu]

Meh... I'm just glad we're not in the position to take him.