ESPN analyst names group of recruits negatively affected by NCAA’s free year of eligibility

Ahead of this past college football season, the NCAA announced that due to COVID it would not count against anyone’s “play four in five” eligibility window. As far as the NCAA is concerned, 2020 signees will still be recognized as true freshmen in the fall of 2021. Many seniors, meanwhile, are taking advantage of the opportunity to add one more season to their NFL Draft resumes.

Coaching staffs were mindful of the “COVID free year” as they filled spots in the class of 2021. ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill pointed out that there was a downside to this. JUCO prospects were negatively impacted by the free COVID year.

It seems that returning experienced veterans are occupying many of the spots that were previously filled by JUCO veterans. Luginbill tweeted Wednesday that JUCO signees were down from over 300 last year to slightly over 100 for the 2021 class.

It will be interesting to see if the 2022 JUCO to NCAA class returns to pre-2021 levels or if the “free year” impacts multiple classes.

Which group of prospects have been most negatively affected by the extra year of eligibility? The #’s tell us it it #JUCO players by a wide margin. At this time one year ago 300+ #JUCO players where signed, today it will be slightly over 100. It’s a shame.

— Tom Luginbill 🇺🇸 (@TomLuginbill) February 3, 2021

SDS Staff

Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.