What Knowledge can be Gained from Spring Games?
Our team here has been on a bit of a, I think, well deserved break from bringing you draft content. Although we just launched a month ago, our site has already seen some great success and support. However, now that the draft is over, what do we write about?
In the coming weeks, we’ll have some way too early projections for 2022 NFL Draft prospects and some news from this year’s spring games. Spring games are one of the great traditions of college football, and can be a great source of information about the makeup of a college team.
For example, we have gotten a good look at what a Clemson team led by D.J. Uiagelelei might look like this season. Of course we’ve seen game film of Uiagelelei, but we can compare this spring game to his film and start to chart a trajectory for him as a player.
Now, Uiagelelei is of course not necessarily going to be entering the 2022 NFL Draft. In fact, I hope he stays at Clemson for a couple more years and learns all he can from the excellent Dabo Swinney. However, it gives us as draft enthusiasts a chance to start to understand who this young man is as a player and what we could see from him if he eventually gets a shot to be drafted by an NFL team.
We can also find our first great storylines of the college football season. One to watch is Florida State graduate transfer McKensie Milton. The former UCF quarterback has not played a snap of football since he sustained a bad leg injury in 2018. However, he now has a chance to prove he could be the Seminoles starter in 2021.
Milton is in his last year of eligibility and is looking to put his stamp on the NCAA and get a chance at an NFL job. All after it was questioned if he would be able to even play football again.
One final reason that these spring games, or practices, may be extra important in 2021 is the extra year of football granted to a lot of players by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rosters are stuffed to bursting because of this and there is so much talent to sift through. We could see some of the best draft classes of all-time due to this extra college experience.