2021 NFL Draft: Gregory Rousseau, Micah Parsons opt out of college season
Two elite 2021 NFL Draft prospects have opted out of the 2020 college season.
The COVID-19 pandemic obviously affected this year’s NFL Draft, causing the league to have the event in a virtual capacity for the first time. Now, as the league is planning for the 2020 season and navigating the pandemic through it, some parts of the 2021 NFL Draft are already being affected. With NFL players making opt-out decisions, some of the biggest names in college football have been following suit as of late.
After Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley was the first player to opt-out and declare for the 2021 NFL Draft, Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman followed suit. And while both of those players have the potential to be selected in the first round next April, they were not on the same level as the latest duo of draft prospects to choose not to play.
Earlier this week, there was a report that Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons was going to opt-out. On Thursday, he made the official announcement on Instagram, saying that he won’t be playing in 2020 to prepare for the draft. He wasn’t the only prospect, though.
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Miami EDGE defender Gregory Rousseau, a player who was second in sacks only behind Chase Young in college football last season, also made the decision to opt-out of this season, as his head coach, Manny Diaz, said on Thursday. Both Rousseau and Parsons are stepping away from their final year of college football eligibility for the 2021 NFL Draft. And though they both could’ve shown some impressive things, they’ll both be fine.
Gregory Rousseau and Micah Parsons are still first-round locks in the 2021 NFL Draft.
First and foremost and as is the case with any player, college or professional, who decides to opt-out over concerns with COVID-19, their decision can’t be faulted. Risking the health of yourself or your family to play a game, paycheck or not, isn’t worth it to some people and that personal decision should be respected when it’s made.
But if you’re looking at the decisions by Parsons and Rousseau, this makes a ton of sense in terms of mitigating risks. Even without playing in the 2020 college football season, both players are going to be first-round picks in the 2021 NFL Draft and will likely be selected in the top 10. That’s the type of prospects we’re talking about here.
Parsons and Rousseau may well be the best two defensive prospects in the 2021 draft class. While Rousseau is a rawer player than Parsons, both have elite NFL potential that will get them drafted high based off of their film through the 2019 season. So why then would they risk contracting the coronavirus with their stock already so secure?
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While each of these elite defenders can remain secure in their draft stock, it will be interesting to see how other prospects take advantage. With less attention paid to Parsons and Rousseau through the 2021 NFL Draft lens, others could potentially make a bigger name for themselves. We’ll see who that might end up being, if anyone.