Bateman opting out of 2020 Football Season

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Some guy said:
False. Va tech corner did it a few days ago
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Ok - there are 2.

Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence and many other players who are ranked higher than Bateman haven’t opted out.
 

Deep sigh..... I guess this is what top level recruiting gets you! :cool:
 


hello-world said:
DD: CAB:
Minnesota also returns:

It's a loss, but so far Minnesota still has two quality B1G receivers, a great 'athlete' in Seth Green, their starting QB, their starting RB, and their entire offensive line from last year.

We're still looking at a top 20 offense, might not be a top 10 offense out of the gate anymore, but it's football, things like this happen.
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Thanks man. Totally forgot about Dem's big return at Nebby. The guy has made some clutch catches as well.
 


It hasn’t been mentioned that Fleck just found out this morning, despite the fact that Rashod been in California for a couple weeks while the rest of the team has been doing walkthroughs and holding team meetings, but I guess I’ll try not to read anything into that. It probably doesn’t matter at this point, but there might be more behind the scenes than what’s been made public.
 

PitinoFan said:
It hasn’t been mentioned that Fleck just found out this morning, despite the fact that Rashod been in California for a couple weeks while the rest of the team has been doing walkthroughs and holding team meetings, but I guess I’ll try not to read anything into that. It probably doesn’t matter at this point, but there might be more behind the scenes than what’s been made public.
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Do we know that Fleck didn't find out until this morning? Fleck's Twitter message said, "This morning, Rashod informed the team..."

To me, that implies that Fleck probably knew about this before this morning, and I would be pretty surprised if Bateman just went to LA without telling PJ why.
 


hello-world said:
Do we know that Fleck didn't find out until this morning? Fleck's Twitter message said, "This morning, Rashod informed the team..."

To me, that implies that Fleck probably knew about this before this morning, and I would be pretty surprised if Bateman just went to LA without telling PJ why.
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That’s a good point, but the rest of the team must have wondered WTF was going on, and he does have friends on the team. Maybe they all knew.
 



Highly doubt this came out of the blue as Coach is concerned...

Rashod's calculus is way up in the rarefied air compared to 98% of all other D1 players...and 100% of his UM teammates.

Hard to imagine now that he has made his move there won't be others on the team...not just players with some semblence of pro-potential or some sort, whether NFL bound or not.

Does make for an interesting thought experiment for the transfer portal...particularly the grad transfers. Is the love of the game itself enough motivation to play (in the current environment) when educational goals have been met?

The experiment is running. All will be moot if there is no season.
 


I wish Rashod well, and hope he’s selected in the first round. Knowing he would have most likely not played in the probable bowl game lessens the blow a bit. As far as a good decision for him to skip the regular season, I’m dubious. He could certainly get leap frogged by other receivers. This is why I believe his reason over Covid concerns is truthful.

Personally if I was a healthy young man of his age I would have minuscule concerns over Covid. But I don’t blame him, most folks out there listening to the mainstream media are not being told/explained the vast differences this virus is doing to folks in particular cohorts is pathetic.
 
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builtbadgers said:
Tons of teams were hurt more by players leaving early than we were by Coffey leaving early. Plus we were not .500 in conference, more like 8-12 which is better than our 7 year average.
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We were .500 overall which is what I was referencing. The Gophers can't afford to lose their best player a year early as easily as Kentucky or Duke or St. Tony. Given the # of close games choked away, it's not hard to argue that Coffey alone would have probably meant 4 more wins at least.
 




If there is a season, I would expect the Gophers to lean on the OL and go a little more run-heavy. As far as Bateman, I suspect we could see more of this with blue chip players leaving early - covid or not. Top players are already skipping bowl games. The next step is skipping the whole season.
 

Donovan said:
I wish Rashod well, and hope he’s selected in the first round. Knowing he would have most likely not played in the probable bowl game lessens the blow a bit. As far as a good decision for him to skip the regular season, I’m dubious. He could certainly get leap frogged by other hung receivers. This is why I believe his reason over Covid concerns is truthful.

Personally if I was a healthy young man of his age I would have minuscule concerns over Covid. But I don’t blame him, most folks out there listening to the mainstream media are not being told/explained the vast differences this virus is doing to folks in particular cohorts is pathetic.
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Oh, B.S.! It's pointed out all over the place every day that the majority of deaths are over 70 and that young people have a very good chance not to be affected by it. You actually have to read mainstream media to know that, though.

Pretty sure Bateman got input on this and weighed the rewards versus the risks quite carefully. I think the really elite athletes are increasingly looking at their options; and are also questioning how universities and the NCAA are benefiting off of them. With all the money involved, it's only going to happen more and more.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
If there is a season, I would expect the Gophers to lean on the OL and go a little more run-heavy. As far as Bateman, I suspect we could see more of this with blue chip players leaving early - covid or not. Top players are already skipping bowl games. The next step is skipping the whole season.
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Even MORE run heavy than 110th of 130 teams, based on average PA per game?

College Football Stats - College FB Team Pass Attempts per Game | TeamRankings.com

College Football pass attempts per game, by team.
www.teamrankings.com www.teamrankings.com
 

howeda7 said:
We were .500 overall which is what I was referencing. The Gophers can't afford to lose their best player a year early as easily as Kentucky or Duke or St. Tony. Given the # of close games choked away, it's not hard to argue that Coffey alone would have probably meant 4 more wins at least.
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St. Tony to you, Tony Bennett to me. We regularly recruit higher ranked classes than UW and UVA and yet when they lose players they are still miles better than we are. Understood on your regular season record. Your right, we especially can not afford to lose a player. Even when we still have Carr and Oturu we are so poor defensively and in mental toughness that we go 8-12
 



I lost pretty much all my respect for Bateman today.

What he did is basically unprecedented - skip his junior year and bail on his team to get ready for the draft. And before you tell me how he has nothing to prove and there are millions of dollars involved, I don't see Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence or any of the other 32 guys on this list projected as 1st round picks who have made this decision.

2021 NFL Mock Draft – WalterFootball

walterfootball.com walterfootball.com
 

John Galt said:
I lost pretty much all my respect for Bateman today.

What he did is basically unprecedented - skip his junior year and bail on his team to get ready for the draft. And before you tell me how he has nothing to prove and there are millions of dollars involved, I don't see Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence or any of the other 32 guys on this list projected as 1st round picks who have made this decision.

2021 NFL Mock Draft – WalterFootball

walterfootball.com walterfootball.com
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Not yet.
 

Kid got and will continue to get a lot of hype. Can't blame him if at some point he starts to factor it in.

Gophers coaches knew he was a steal from the current blue bloods and were fortunate he stayed with his original commitment. Certainly his 2 years here made a significant impact...beating Wisconsin, PSU, and Auburn under his time. Good times.

Can't blame him if the current circumstances plus the hype equate to passing on a further NCAA career to set up to pursue the pros.

Yes it sucks. Fact is if we have a season, huge opportunities for growth for the next receivers up...especially with Tanner at QB. He WILL get the ball to them. On them to run effective routes and often fight to catch it. All are given the automatic 1-2 drops per game we experienced with Tyler...who too had an outstanding career in the end.

Still, strong potential for progress.
 




Also, this might seem a little random, but it was a few weeks ago, even in June maybe, Rashod posted a photo or video on Twitter, and now I can’t find it. I am hoping someone can jar my memory who follows him closer and has a better memory, but I recall thinking that I hope this doesn’t make him ineligible. I thought it was from this agency’s roof top. It’s now deleted from Twitter.
PitinoFan said:
Same agent as TJ and Adam Thielen

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Bisker82 said:
Saw this on the news this morning;

PAC-12 Football players threatening boycott this year unless certain conditions met.


'After the University of Oregon, and the rest of the Pac-12, released their condensed 2020 football schedule, players across the conference are raising their concerns. A multischool coalition of college football players are threatening to boycott the season if health and safety protocols are not met, as well as having the league address concerns about fighting racial injustice, according to ESPN.

Players from Oregon, UCLA, Cal and Stanford are at the forefront of the movement. The group plans to release a statement of unity as early as Sunday. However, Pac-12 officials claim to not have heard from the players.'
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The PAC 12 players are planning to take over a neighborhood in Seattle until their demands are met!
 

Spring football also increases the likelihood of missing rookie NFL seasons due to injury and having a greater impact on draft status. You tear you ACL in October, you are back for the start of the next season. You tear it in May in a spring season scenarios, you aren’t ready until start of the next calendar year.
 

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