No One Should Have Been Suprised About Hogs' Burks Leaving to Prepare for Draft

Biletnikoff Award snub should have been first clue for folks about Burks' intentions

For some reason people seemed shocked when Arkansas wide receiver Treylon Burks chose to opt out of the Outback Bowl to declare for the NFL draft.

Perhaps that segment of the fan base was looking through the lens of their personal needs and wishes. However, it’s always best to evaluate someone else’s potential decision by stepping into that person’s shoes.

Doing so would have made it clear that the second the Biletnikoff Award semifinalists came out without Burks's name on the list that he would be leaving. 

Think about that. The SEC’s top wide receiver didn’t make the semifinalist list for the nation’s top wide receiver.

Not the finalist list. The semifinalist list. Burks wasn’t getting the respect and attention he deserved, so it was time to do something about it.

Not being on lists for major awards may have been motivation for Treylon Burks :: Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Images

There was no doubt Burks would punish any team left on the regular season schedule for this oversight. 

Four days later, on a bad leg, he filled the highlight reel while hitting Alabama for 180 yards, two touchdowns and 22.4 yards per catch average.

The following week Missouri got a taste as Burks snagged 129 yards receiving and a touchdown at 18.4 yards per catch. It would have been 136 yards and two touchdowns had a deep pass not drifted in the second quarter, causing him to stumble.

Burks was out to garner attention and he did. Scouts had everything they needed on tape.

The only way Burks can boost his stock now is to perform well in the combine. Once scouts verify his size, strength and character, he will be in great shape.

THE METCHIE INJURY

If the long history of injuries that ruined NFL careers wasn’t enough to convince Burks to skip the Outback Bowl to prepare for the draft, prime examples of which can be found in Burks’s fellow Lumberjacks-Razorbacks, then the injury to Alabama’s John Metchie against Georgia was a wake-up call.

The torn ACL has hurt Metchie’s draft stock to the point where he now has to decide between making millions less or coming back for another year of grinding in college.

When Crimson Tide website Bama Hammer wrote today’s headline, it read “Should fans be concerned about loss of John Metchie?” Notice it didn’t say “Should fans be concerned about John Metchie” or Should fans be concerned about future of John Metchie.”

The article is about how now that Metchie is gone, who’s going to step up in his place. It’s the same discussion happening on Arkansas sites about Burks except he is still healthy and has an optimum future in front of him.

JUST GET INSURANCE

The go-to for most fans claiming selfishness when players opt out is to just get insurance for catastrophic injury.

What these fans don’t understand is insurance companies will usually only pay if the injury is so bad you are unable to play in the NFL. What typically happens is the player is injured, rehabs, and is then taken much later in the draft by a team willing to take a risk.

A prime example is Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith. Despite being projected as a Top 5 pick, he chose to play in the college football playoffs against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. During the game his knee was destroyed.

Smith fell from the Top 5 to a second round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, costing him millions. While fortunate to have a policy that was better written than what most players get, Smith only got $900,000 – $700,000 for falling out of the first round and $100,000 for each spot he dropped after the first pick of the second round.

Ohio State running back Ezekiel Eliott was chosen where Smith was projected and signed a four-year deal worth $24.9 million with a $16.3 million signing bonus. Smith signed a four-year, $6.4 million contract, approximately $10 million less than just his signing bonus would have been.

Even with the insurance, Smith lost $17.6 million off his initial contract alone.

Most teams didn’t think he would ever play again, so they passed, but the Cowboys had hope their team doctors could eventually get him back on the field, so they were willing to take a flyer.

Smith missed his entire rookie season, missing out on bonuses and experience. Just prior to the 2017 season, a severely damaged nerve began to fire again, allowing him to play once more. However, this wasn’t the Jaylon Smith who dominated college. His lateral movement was limited, as was his explosion.

The Cowboys eventually gave up on Smith, and he is now out of the league.

BUT HE’LL MISS OUT ON THE BOWL EXPERIENCE

From the mouth of hypocrites comes this excuse. Fans can’t say out one side of their mouths how valuable the life experience is when going to a college bowl game, but then act like nothing is lost if a player is injured and never gets to experience life in the NFL.

Plus, while most Arkansas fans spent their lives experiencing bowl games as something major and important, most players didn’t. Their life experience is a time period where bowl games don’t matter. Everyone gets in with such a low bar and there are a million of them, so there is nothing special about them.

They're no longer special to older fans either, they just don’t want to admit it. Quick, who won the 2018 Gator Bowl? Chances are that Texas A&M fans probably don’t even remember they won that game, much less Arkansas fans.

Let’s try another. Which of the following is a real bowl: Vrbo Bowl, Hotels.com Bowl, Redbox Bowl, or the Tony the Tiger Bowl?

If you successfully guessed the Hotels.com Bowl, then you’re right. However, you probably weren’t sure the others existed and can’t name a single match-up, much less a result from one of those games.

WHERE THE BOWL EXPERIENCE DOES MATTER

The value of the bowl game comes from the bonding of next year’s group of players. Traveling together for an event like this will bring them closer and help next year’s team begin the process of forming an identity.

This is college football’s version of the NFL exhibition game where coaches get to see who can step up and what holes need to be filled. It will provide more direction in spring training.

Bowls are about the future. By not being part of the preparation, Burks is doing the best thing he could do for not only himself, but this program.