Why did Holland leave early?

[aubaseball 2,602]

It’s not a knock or negative on anyone to wish that he would have stayed another year.   My opinion on all of the players is that all should have come back to improve their draft status.   With the way the nfl is set up now, not being a 1st rounder, you are losing a lot of money.   With another year,  all three could have put themselves in a position to be 1st rounders 

[DAG 33,981]

I will say this. I was in Boston for a forum a couple of days ago and I was surprised to hear how many Patriot fans knew of CD. Quite a few of them want him if Malcolm Butler leaves.

[CCslim 56]

The combine is where most prospects make their money

college film is just extra

[alexava 6,973]

I may be alone in this but how much better could Holland do? He was a beast. Still I want all of them to stay. Selfish? Yes. But I have nothing to gain by them leaving. I’m never made about them leaving. I would too. I loved CD but certainly not sold on first round. 

[doc4aday 1,887]

I think he loved his time at Auburn and played his heart out for us. I think he will be a 2nd rounder or maybe a very high 3rd round pick. Baring injuries, I think he should have a nice NFL career and do us proud.

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

53 minutes ago, alexava said:

I may be alone in this but how much better could Holland do? He was a beast. Still I want all of them to stay. Selfish? Yes. But I have nothing to gain by them leaving. I’m never made about them leaving. I would too. I loved CD but certainly not sold on first round. 

I don't think it's about how much better he would do. I feel that drafting a one year star really high is risky. If he had dominated the SEC for more than one season, he wouldn't seem as much of a risk. 

 

But i will say him doing that backflip is down right impressive.

[AUIH1 1,515]

4 hours ago, alexava said:

I may be alone in this but how much better could Holland do? He was a beast. Still I want all of them to stay. Selfish? Yes. But I have nothing to gain by them leaving. I’m never made about them leaving. I would too. I loved CD but certainly not sold on first round. 

Holland was not the beast we made him out to be.  A beast was Tracy Rocker and Nick Fairley.  Holland was good at AU.    But again, he did not attend AU for academic reasons.  He needs to do what he thinks is best for him in terms of making money and I am almost 100% sure his best option is the NFL.

wde

[alexava 6,973]

28 minutes ago, AUIH1 said:

Holland was not the beast we made him out to be.  A beast was Tracy Rocker and Nick Fairley.  Holland was good at AU.    But again, he did not attend AU for academic reasons.  He needs to do what he thinks is best for him in terms of making money and I am almost 100% sure his best option is the NFL.

wde

I barely remember Rocker as a player. Fairley was the best i have seen play DT for one season at Auburn. I can think of very few who have been as good in the sec, none better. As far as a DE who rushes the passer and plays the run, i am having a hard time remembering one much better at Auburn than Holland. Not Clowney good but very good. SO I think Holland was every bit the beast we make him out to be. Lawson would fit the category of "not what we made him out to be" to me. I think Holland was easily better than Carl. But like an earlier comment says, he may could have improved draft stock by doubling down and doing it again. Two years of a beast is better than one.

[GwillMac6 20,671]

1 minute ago, alexava said:

I barely remember Rocker as a player. Fairley was the best i have seen play DT for one season at Auburn. I can think of very few who have been as good in the sec, none better. As far as a DE who rushes the passer and plays the run, i am having a hard time remembering one much better at Auburn than Holland. Not Clowney good but very good. SO I think Holland was every bit the beast we make him out to be. Lawson would fit the category of "not what we made him out to be" to me. I think Holland was easily better than Carl. But like an earlier comment says, he may could have improved draft stock by doubling down and doing it again. Two years of a beast is better than one.

Holland was certainly better than clowney's junior year when he was mailing it in preserving his body! haha.

[Gowebb11 9,319]

On 2/23/2018 at 4:58 PM, GwillMac6 said:

http://walterfootball.com/draft2018.php Latest NFL Mock draft has him keeping on sliding back and this time all the way to the fourth round. It Has carlton going in the first and kj in the second. Listen I am all for our guys making the right decision and bettering themselves with their very best draft position and coming out for the draft WHEN IT MAKES sense. Carlton is going to be a first round pick. That is the biggest no brainer. KJ could not of possibly had a better season than he had this season plus being the bell cow in the gus system there is always a chance you get injured again by being run down and with KJ's injury history he basically had no other choice but to come out. But holland? why? He does not have great measurables. He is not going to be a shorts and t shorts warrior at the combine. He only has 1 good year on tape. A guy like him to have the best chance at going early needs to put as many good seasons as possible on tape for scouts to see where they have no choice but to take you early even if you do not have the desirable measurables. This one was the only head scratcher for me. What say you AU family?

It was his decision and I respect and support it. But it was clear to this amateur observer, that he was not at the all round talent level of Lawson/Barnett/Garrett from last year. I feel like he had a lot he could’ve improved upon with another year, but he obviously thought it was time to roll the dice. I will say this though; its probably easy for these kids to see guys like Mark Emmett getting rich off of them, while trying to insure they don’t get a free sandwich from a booster. I’m not sure how long I would want to risk injury in the current NCAA system.  I hope JH has a great career. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

51 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

Holland was certainly better than clowney's junior year when he was mailing it in preserving his body! haha.

You have probably answered your orig question.  Holland played full throttle, no fear this past season.  Perhaps he sensed the future potential $$$ would be in the back (maybe even front) of his mind next year and he is simply being honest with himself about it and didn't want to put his team, nor himself, at a disadvantage by playing half-assed to preserve his body.

I would thank him for that as an AU fan, personally.  Good luck to him.

Frankly, and I don't know cuz I'm no NFL expert (not even a fan, really) but wouldn't DE be a type of position that, unless you ARE a Clowney, one usually grows into and can really earn the big $ in a follow-up contract?  Not EVERY NFL player earning a solid living started their career in the first 2 rounds...

 

[alexava 6,973]

2 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

Holland was certainly better than clowney's junior year when he was mailing it in preserving his body! haha.

Clowney did that. But I think he proved good enough his first two seasons to secure the top pick. So did the nfl. Holland, I don’t think was ever going to be that good. Clowney was just so physically gifted. From what little we knew of Jeff as a player and person ) I doubt he would EVER mail it in like that. 

[AUBwins 10,075]

On 2/23/2018 at 8:19 PM, augolf1716 said:

Thought that was Cowart but you could be correct

Well cowart was correct as well ? 

[McLoofus 35,182]

On 2/24/2018 at 8:11 PM, alexava said:

Clowney did that. But I think he proved good enough his first two seasons to secure the top pick. So did the nfl. Holland, I don’t think was ever going to be that good. Clowney was just so physically gifted. From what little we knew of Jeff as a player and person ) I doubt he would EVER mail it in like that. 

Yep. Clowney is at least as quick and agile as Holland in a 275 lb body. He is supernatural. Or at least was.

I think Holland graded out pretty high. Draft grades and mock drafts don't always align. 

He might just have to show it on the field. Lawson went in the 4th round. Started 16 games and had 8.5 sacks as a rookie. Will be getting a hell of a raise on his next contract. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

On 2/23/2018 at 5:50 PM, around4ever said:

If I'm not mistaken NFL scouts projected him as a solid 2nd round with possibly high 2nd round.  That would justify a decision to leave early.  I'm not sure what has happened since then. 

I saw 3 different projections for him before he declared and all of them had him in the 4th round. I was actually surprised when he declared, but assumed someone who had some insight told him that he would go higher.

[alexava 6,973]

1 minute ago, lionheartkc said:

I saw 3 different projections for him before he declared and all of them had him in the 4th round. I was actually surprised when he declared, but assumed someone who had some insight told him that he would go higher.

I think he’ll go higher but I didn’t tell him that. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Just now, alexava said:

I think he’ll go higher but I didn’t tell him that. 

That's good. I'd hate to think that you mislead him if it doesn't happen.

[alexava 6,973]

1 minute ago, lionheartkc said:

That's good. I'd hate to think that you mislead him if it doesn't happen.

I would tell them all they need another year. Tre Mason might been the exception. He could not have possibly done any better and my conscience would not have let me misdirect him. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

40 minutes ago, alexava said:

I would tell them all they need another year. Tre Mason might been the exception. He could not have possibly done any better and my conscience would not have let me misdirect him. 

Personally, I would tell them all they need to stay until their 5th year Senior status is complete.

...but that's just because I'm admittedly selfish and want them to keep my entertainment value high on the Plains.

Realistically, football ain't basketball or even baseball.  90% of early leavers would benefit from staying, at least until their bodies are a "physical" senior.  But money talks....even if it's late round money. ...still more than I make in a (few) year (s put together).

[lionheartkc 6,150]

1 hour ago, AUsince72 said:

Personally, I would tell them all they need to stay until their 5th year Senior status is complete.

...but that's just because I'm admittedly selfish and want them to keep my entertainment value high on the Plains.

Realistically, football ain't basketball or even baseball.  90% of early leavers would benefit from staying, at least until their bodies are a "physical" senior.  But money talks....even if it's late round money. ...still more than I make in a (few) year (s put together).

And I would say that the majority of the 10% who wouldn't benefit from hanging around are running backs who need to save as much physical abuse as possible for when they are getting paid for it, since their bodies can only take so much.

[McLoofus 35,182]

26 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

And I would say that the majority of the 10% who wouldn't benefit from hanging around are running backs who need to save as much physical abuse as possible for when they are getting paid for it, since their bodies can only take so much.

That was my knee-jerk reaction. I think that might extend beyond RBs. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

That was my knee-jerk reaction. I think that might extend beyond RBs. 

It might, but they are the most physically abused position on the field. It would be interesting to see the science about the physical damage  a guy like Holland's body takes when he's dealing out abuse vs a guy like Johnson when he's taking the abuse.

[McLoofus 35,182]

21 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

It might, but they are the most physically abused position on the field. It would be interesting to see the science about the physical damage  a guy like Holland's body takes when he's dealing out abuse vs a guy like Johnson when he's taking the abuse.

Agreed. I'd be curious to see the comparison across all positions, if such exists. Guessing not.

They say that guys along the lines are experiencing the violence of small head-on car collision on every snap. Force = mass x acceleration, and there is a lot of mass in the game now, and guys these days have enough explosiveness in their legs to run 5-5.5 second 40s at 300+ lbs. And they experience more contact than anyone else on the field, even if some of the other guys are involved in more high speed collisions. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Agreed. I'd be curious to see the comparison across all positions, if such exists. Guessing not.

They say that guys along the lines are experiencing the violence of small head-on car collision on every snap. Force = mass x acceleration, and there is a lot of mass in the game now, and guys these days have enough explosiveness in their legs to run 5-5.5 second 40s at 300+ lbs. And they experience more contact than anyone else on the field, even if some of the other guys are involved in more high speed collisions. 

One of the advantages the big uglies, have, however, is that they are fully prepared and braced for their collision. Most guys who are tackled are not prepared for the instance of contact and in many cases have no control over how they go down. In some ways that is also the case for those making the tackles, as they are hitting a moving target and don't know how that target is going to react to their hit.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

43 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

It might, but they are the most physically abused position on the field. It would be interesting to see the science about the physical damage  a guy like Holland's body takes when he's dealing out abuse vs a guy like Johnson when he's taking the abuse.

 

16 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Agreed. I'd be curious to see the comparison across all positions, if such exists. Guessing not.

They say that guys along the lines are experiencing the violence of small head-on car collision on every snap. Force = mass x acceleration, and there is a lot of mass in the game now, and guys these days have enough explosiveness in their legs to run 5-5.5 second 40s at 300+ lbs. And they experience more contact than anyone else on the field, even if some of the other guys are involved in more high speed collisions. 

Found the question intriguing. Only a cursory search, but

5-yr old HS (though notably large) study shows:

"...A new article published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health examines the epidemiology of 10,000 high school football injuries to determine if there were patterns of injury by position played. Participating athletic therapists reported the injury rate was 4.08 per 1,000 athlete-exposures overall, with injuries more commonly occurring in competition. Offensive lineman (center, offensive guard, and offensive tackle) sustained the most injuries (18.3%) of all positions, however running back had the highest percentage of injury for any one position (16.3%)...."

Also shows injuries from player-player contact far outnumber contact with the field ("...being tackled (24.4%) and tackling (21.8%) accounted for a majority of the injuries..."

http://www.humankinetics.com/news-and-excerpts/news-and-excerpts/why-offensive-line-is-footballs-most-dangerous-position