Braylon Heard leaves early only to go undrafted....
- Thread starter Blueathletics
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There was a family Need for him to go and he's old for a rookie running back. Coming back for a year wasn't going to help his 40 time. He is going to have an opportunity to camp and make a team.
I see him getting picked up as an undrafted free agent. His 40 time really hurt him, I think he plays faster than what he timed at, plus it didn't help how easy he went down on first contact. He is a good kick returner, so I think he could catch on with a team playing special teams. Worst case, he could picked up on a scout team or go the CFL route. I wish him nothing but the best.
He's already graduated and he has some responsibilities. Time for him to make money. Either in the pros or in something else. It's really not that complicated a decision. One that more players, especially running backs, should make. Did coming back help Locke, Homer, Smith, or little? Stop beating yourself up for free.
Not sure but IIRC he entered Nebraska a year late and had to sit out a year here, and maybe he was as impressed with Boom AND his backups as much as some of us were. Not sure another year in college would have helped him that much, time to make some money. He should have his degree in something by now. AND he could catch on somewhere yet, all of it pays, hope he can catch on with someone in some capacity. The Fonz didn't have much of a chance according to most of us and is still making the big bucks, hope Heard can cash in on some of it. After that one run he had a lot of us very excited, hope he is 100% or can get there.
Remember OL Eliot Porter, the OL LSU successfully hid at UK for a year? Porter RSed at UK, transferred to LSU and became a 2 year starting C for the Tigers. This happened during the Phillips era. Anyway, he also signed a FA deal with the Browns. Think Phillips had anything to do with that?
24 of the 43 early entrants into the draft went undrafted. That's pretty amazing. Heard isn't the only one.
I do not think Braylon truly thought he would be drafted. I suspect what happened is what he expected, with a chance to prove himself in camp. Success would be making a team or, in the least, a practice squad. He saw Boom and Kemp fighting for his snaps and knew he was not getting younger.
I think he saw the writing on the wall with Boom and Horton, and he knew that this was probably his best chance to get drafted (even though it wasn't great).
Not a knock on the guy but he seems to shy away from competition and look for a transfer, etc if there are better players in front of him (Ameer Abdullah, Boom, etc). Can't say that I really blame him though.
Not a knock on the guy but he seems to shy away from competition and look for a transfer, etc if there are better players in front of him (Ameer Abdullah, Boom, etc). Can't say that I really blame him though.
Heard started like every game but a couple when he was dinged, what was he afraid of?
Boom and Horton were true freshmen and Heard barely started over them. As the season went on he saw another Ameer Abdullah developing in Boom Williams. He's not dumb, he knows that Boom is the guy right now and Horton is only going to get better. Not saying he was afraid, but he doesn't seem like a guy that loves competition whether it be Nebraska or here.
I'm sure if the coaches could go back they would've made Boom the feature back from the get go (if they wouldn't they should have their heads examined). Heading into the offseason it's pretty clear who the team's best RB is (and Horton is only going to get better). I don't blame him one bit for leaving.
If he would've stayed he would've been battling it out for the #2 position on the depth chart (maybe #3 behind Horton). That's probably not what he had in mind when he transferred to a two-win Kentucky team. As a fan I wish he would've stayed, but I can't blame him for going. I'm not sure his draft stock would've ever been higher (and there's a good chance it could've dropped significantly due to injury at such a physical position).
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Hate it when kids leave early like this and don't get picked. But the reality is he most likely wasn't going to get picked in 16 either and would get little playing time at UK this fall. So it wasn't that huge of a risk to leave early especially if he already has his degree. If he makes a squad and is nothing but a special teams guy, his likely position at UK this fall, at least he is getting paid for it. Hopefully it works out for him in some form, CFL, practice squad or even in Europe, if not time to put that degree to use and become like most of us, just another working guy.
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