College Football

Should Lawson and Adams Play in the Sugar Bowl?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:45 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Jake Mastroianni/FanSided via Fly War Eagle

We take a look at whether or not it’s a good idea for Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams to play in the Sugar Bowl for Auburn and risk injury before the NFL Draft.

After the announcement that Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey will not play in the Sun Bowl in order to prepare for the NFL Draft, it raises the question of whether or not Auburn’s Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams should do the same.

These are very different times that we’re approaching where college athletics aren’t just about playing for your school, it’s about getting paid at the next level.

A lot of this stems from Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith who was projected to be a top five pick in the 2016 NFL Draft before getting hurt in a “meaningless” bowl game. He ended up dropping to the third round and it cost him about $20 million.

McCaffrey is projected to be a late first round draft pick, and he really has nothing else to prove at the college level. Stanford has leaned on him heavily for the past two years, so I have no problem with him skipping the Sun Bowl. Playing in the bowl game can only hurt his draft stock at this point.

So that same question can be raised for defensive end Carl Lawson and defensive tackle Montravius Adams. Both are projected to go in either the first round or early second round, and neither has much left to prove at the college level.

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It would be different if these were fringe draft picks, but when you’re being projected to go in the first round, there is too much money at stake to risk an injury in a bowl game that in the end doesn’t mean that much.

Now the Sugar Bowl holds a whole lot more weight than the Sun Bowl, but still, it’s not a playoff game.

If they decided to sit these games out, which there has been no mention of that happening, it wouldn’t bother me at all. They gave all they had for 12 games this year, and in doing so earned the respect to be predicted to go high in the NFL Draft.

I would hate to see either one of them get hurt in the Sugar Bowl and possibly ruin their chances of being a high draft pick and earning a lot of money for them and their families.

Going forward I think this is something we’re going to see more and more of, and I’m not mad it at it. I love my school, but I’m not going to risk losing millions of dollars on a bowl win.

Love it or hate it, this is going to happen for an Auburn player very soon, so go ahead and prepare yourself.

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