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Malik Jefferson is now getting to live out his NFL dream with the Cincinnati Bengals.
However, the former Texas Longhorns star was not advised to enter the 2018 NFL Draft. Despite a standout junior season in Austin, the College Advisory Committee recommended Jefferson return to school for his senior season.
Apparently, Jefferson was not exactly sold on what the committee was telling him.
“It’s not really good feedback,” Jefferson told Max Olson of The Athletic. “If a guy wants to come out early, they have to make a decision on their own. Really, if you’re not like a top-10 guy coming out early, it’s just up in the air from there. You just don’t know. Anything can happen.”
In defense of Jefferson, the committee does have a bit of a flawed system. Since 2014, the committee has been advising players who aren’t projected to go in the first or second rounds to stay in school.
While players should obviously want to go that high, being a third or fourth-round pick is by no means a bad thing. Most NFL players drafted in that range get multiple seasons to prove themselves with their teams and show they belong.
Jefferson was someone projected to go in the Round 2-3 by draft experts going into the draft. He wound up going in the middle of Round 3, so it all worked out well for him.