Friday, January 13, 2012

What was Max Holloway thinking?

Max Holloway took many BC fans by surprise when he announced he would bypass his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft. Max earned his degree so you cannot begrudge him for wasting an education. This clearly is a personal and football decision. But as a football decision, I don't know if it makes sense.

Pros
Currently Max is out of position in BC's defense. He's a little undersized to be a classic 4-3 DE. NFL teams might see him as someone who might thrive in a 3-4. Another year at BC wouldn't have helped him hone 3-4 skills, so if he impresses in the workouts and interviews he might get drafted in the later rounds. I am sure Montel Harris's injury was in the back of his mind too. Leaving now -- while he is still healthy -- allows him the chance to play professionally. If he returns and gets hurt, that might not be an option. Finally, maybe he needs the motivation. As we've said, college football is a grind. Especially when you are not winning. If he wasn't passionate about returning to BC, it is best to move on and challenge himself.


Cons
At this point, he is a long shot to get drafted. With fewer rounds of the NFL Draft the Undrafted Free Agent path is more common, but certainly not easier. A breakout season next year might have raised his stock a bit. He might also have played his last down of football. There are no guarantees in the sport. If he loves to play, giving up a final year at BC might be a mistake.


For BC, this is not good news. Holloway was not an elite player, but he was very consistent and someone we could have used next year. It also makes you question the morale and motivation if players are leaving on the slight chance of getting drafted.

5 comments:

JD said...

There has to be more to this than we know. I am not buying the "just wants to get off a losing team" theory, or even the defense not being matched to his skills theory. In this day in age, he could transfer to another school that would give him the opportunity to either better showcase his skills or win some more football games. He is a seasoned guy that many programs would have been interested in.

As for his draft prospects, it is highly doubtful that he even gets invited to the combine, which puts all of his eggs in the BC Pro Day basket, and he has to put up insane numbers to attract one of the teams that is there to watch Kuechly. Fact of the matter is that BC has had players that have had more developed skills and better college production than Max.

There must be some motivating factor here. Hopefully Max fulfills his dreams.

Knucklehead said...

His father played in the NFL.

He has a degree.

He is probably getting drafted or signed by a connection of his father. When he gets cut he will work in the front office. A BC degree does have some value.

JBQ said...

BC is at the top in academic value. How many "football factories" can say such with their graduates. Matt Leinert was able to win his national championship by taking a six hour course in "ballroom dancing". I think you need 12 hours to be eligible. Redshirting has been really "taken out of context". Four years should be the goal and not five or even six as is being asked for Momah even though he deserves it. How many ND players are working on their MBA and participants in this year's National Championship doing graduate work in underwater basket weaving? Again, BC is the standard bearer even though Texas football is worth 805M and BC#55 at 75M (Ind@P).

CT said...

Coaching related?

Big Jack Krack said...

Well, best of luck, Max. There's no question we could have used him on our team for one more season.

This leaves us with the following at DE:

Kasim Edebali; Brian Mihalik; , Connor Wujciak and Mehdi Abdesmad. The three young guys all have tremendous potential - let's hope they buy in and work very hard in the off-season.

I sure hope Ramsey comes back, because our interior strength will certainly help our DE's.

Maybe Bordner can put on 20 more pounds and switch to DE - not sure he's got more than back-up in his QB future.