Shortly after completing their junior seasons, QB prospects Paxton Lynch of Memphis, Jared Goff of Cal and Christian Hackenberg of Penn State declared for the NFL draft.
This wasn't a surprise. Because of the scarcity of elite quarterbacks in the NFL, Lynch and Goff have a shot to be top-10 picks, and Hackenberg might come off the board a bit higher than our third-round grade because of the success he had when Bill O'Brien, now head coach of the Houston Texans, was head coach for one season in Happy Valley.
But the question here isn't about their draft prospects. We see at least one or two top-rated QBs get picked high almost every year. What I'm most concerned with when evaluating these players is their readiness to play on Sundays. And after watching the tape, it's clear all three QBs could have benefited from returning to school.
The same could have been said last year about Michigan State's Connor Cook, Stanford's Kevin Hogan and Michigan's Jake Rudock. All three returned to school and saw their draft stocks rise after they made huge strides on the field this season.
Let's delve into the scouting reports on Lynch, Goff and Hackenberg, before looking at how their decisions to leave early could affect their long-term success in the NFL.