Talked about on the cfb thread but no one who starts and contributes has ever really sat out a playoff game. That’s where a lot of these guys cement or improve their draft stock, they only sit out bowls because they don’t mean anything to those going to the NFL.
Draft stock isn’t changing much based on one or two games for guys that have already played a P5 schedule. There’s initial overreaction, but by the time the draft rolls around those are just a data point in a sea of evaluation information.
As was pointed out in the same thread, the two guys pointed out right after the playoff they thought would get a big bump in their draft stock the most, Bennet and C. Smith, actually did not.
Before the playoff Bennet was an early day 3 in mocks, and he went early day 3. Smith was a late 2/ early 3 in mocks before the playoff. He ended up going in the 5th.
In the end it’s just 1-2 more games among lots of film, the combine, etc. There are already tons of guys opting out against P5 opponents in other bowls.
Much like all the other bowls once it becomes “acceptable” to opt out of playoffs, guys will start doing it. There used to be pressure to play in minor bowls. Once guys opted out and there wasn’t blowback, the floodgates opened. There was pressure to play in all the NY6. Now that’s gone. There are going to start being opt outs of playoffs. Maybe not a mass exodus, but it might only take a key opt out or two to make the playoffs a joke.