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110%er [5079]
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Van Smith and other players who left early
Oct 24, 2018, 10:29 AM
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Van Smith has got to be kicking himself. He could be a third year starter on a team that could possibly be the best team in college football. Instead, he's an undrafted free agent about to play for a league that hasn't even had their first snap.
Bradley Pinion. Yes, he's had a successful NFL career as a 4th round draft pick, but I can't help to think about had he'd stayed for his senior year (and MacKensie Alexander didn't get injured) Clemson would have rolled 'Bama (pun intended) to become the greatest college football team of all-time. 15-0.
Artavis Scott. He left after a down year only to be undrafted. I get the circumstances (degree in hand and family needs), but by all statistical measures, he could have been the greatest Clemson WR of all-time.
So this post doesn't go on forever, those were three I wanted back for one more year. One was for selfish reasons, the other two for their own benefit.
I understand when great players leave early due to being high draft picks, but I can't wrap my head around Van and others leaving.
We could really use Van right now!
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All-TigerNet [11478]
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Re: Van Smith and other players who left early
Oct 24, 2018, 10:48 AM
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Artavis did what other WRs wish they could have done. He left with Deshaun because he knew that any chance he had of getting drafted would take a hit the following year. I wish it had worked out better for him, but it's hard to argue with his logic based on the type of offense we ran last year.
As for Van, I'm not sure that he would have held his starting position. If he did then he would have certainly seen a significant drop in playing time based on the talent of the players behind him. It's not quite as strong of a case for him but even though he didn't get drafted he may have left at his highest draft potential.
The decisions did not turn in to draft money for these guys which in hindsight makes it seem like they were bad decisions. I can understand one side of how they were thinking though.
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Orange Blooded [3244]
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Re: Van Smith and other players who left early
Oct 24, 2018, 10:53 AM
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Van Smith would have taken a back seat on the depth chart to K'Von. Wallace is just a baller, and IMO, K'Von is 3 times the player Van Smith was at Clemson.
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110%er [7135]
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i was about to say, i think why some of these high rated
Oct 24, 2018, 11:12 AM
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recruits sign with clemson is b/c they know they'll get to play early if they're better and can choose to leave early or not. we always have backups that are waiting to play that may be better than the current starter. So like kelly B you don't know if you'll still be a starter from year to year so guys just leave while their stock is the highest.
CAse by case you can find those who made a bad choice but i'm glad deon cain and ray ray left. It opened it up for ross, dk, and rodgers to see the field more.
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Legend [16112]
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CU Guru [1126]
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Re: Van Smith and other players who left early
Oct 24, 2018, 10:54 AM
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It's a fact of life now. Most high 4 star and 5 star players will only play 3 years in the current environment. Most are better developed when coming in and continue to develop faster now - there are exceptions though.
I think Dabo knows this and one of the reasons he pushes players to graduate in 3 years.
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Orange Blooded [4659]
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Re: Van Smith and other players who left early
Oct 24, 2018, 10:57 AM
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What’s the rush?? That’s what I always say. In grade school, you can’t wait for high school. In high school, you can’t wait for college. In college, you can’t wait to start making money.
There’s not a single day that I don’t miss my days at Clemson. And I wish I’d taken more of it in and made more of every day that I was there. If you’re getting a free education and get to take in all the amenities that Clemson has to offer... you should stay. Always. And for as long as you can. Life is fast enough, don’t rush it.
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All-TigerNet [13031]
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Staying another year in college doesn't magically make
Oct 24, 2018, 10:58 AM
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these kids draftable. For quite a few of them the choice is to either go pro now and probably not get drafted or go pro next year and probably not get drafted. Some of them, for any number of reasons, just want to move on with their lives. And there are others that choose to come back.
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Orange Blooded [2916]
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I think Van Smith had a baby
Oct 24, 2018, 11:07 AM
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and left early to try and provide for his gf and child. Not positive on that but I think that's why. Idk if he was NFL worthy but staying another year probably would've helped his draft stock.
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110%er [6878]
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Re: Van Smith and other players who left early
Oct 24, 2018, 11:11 AM
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We just have to trust that they got the best advice available and acted in good faith on that. Wish them all the very best with their futures. I know it must be super difficult for these young men to be dealing with the fact that some of their life long dreams are probably coming to an end. Thankfully they have good educations to build on.
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Oculus Spirit [82958]
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You have to consider the academics. College is
Oct 24, 2018, 11:13 AM
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hard. It must be very enticing to leave, especially with degree in hand.
Also, love Scott but no way he would have ever been the greatest CU WR of all time. Not with Sammy, Nuk, Jerry Butler, Mike Wiiliams on the list.
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110%er [5079]
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"By all statistical measures"...he would own every career record with a decent season***
Oct 24, 2018, 11:19 AM
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Orange Blooded [2111]
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yea he absolutely would have shattered the records
Oct 24, 2018, 12:00 PM
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maybe even ACC records.
Scott left bc he had degree in hand and his draft stock is what it is. It wouldn't have improved by staying another year.
Ray Ray could have helped his stock. Cain possibly would have helped his as well.
Van Smith left bc had a baby on the way...i'm sure if he knew the outcome he would have stayed but it would have been hard to do that and provide for a young family. I think Van did what was best for him.
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All-TigerNet [13031]
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He would've had the record in a lot of accumlation stats
Oct 24, 2018, 1:41 PM
[ in reply to "By all statistical measures"...he would own every career record with a decent season*** ] |
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Scott caught a ton of passes and the majority of them were right around the LOS, hence the all-time receptions record. He averaged about 10 yards per catch. Nuk and Sammy averaged over 14 YPC and Mike Williams averaged over 15. Scott would've needed a little over 900 yards to pass Sammy at 3391. Scott's best seasons were 965 and 901, and the passing numbers were down substantially last year with KB at QB so it's very possible that even with an extra year to do so, Scott would've fallen short of Sammy's 3 year yardage total.
Scott was good and I loved his toughness, but he was very much a niche player and far from Clemson's all-time greatest WR. He's probably 4th on my list of Dabo-era WRs just ahead of Jacoby Ford and there have been other good ones in the past as well. I think Derrick Hamilton and Rod Gardner from the Bowden era would be in the mix with Scott.
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Legend [16112]
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Artavis knew his # would drop significantly in an offense
Oct 24, 2018, 12:23 PM
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unable to pass the ball consistently
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