Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate have officially announced that they will be heading into the NFL draft, a decision that I agree is both the smart and best choice.
Both players had a tremendous year, and they were often in the Heisman talk, but Notre Dame’s record of 6-6 killed those chances. Still Clausen and Tate made it clear that they were ready for the next step.
“Growing up as a kid, one of my lifelong dreams has been to play in the NFL and with that being said, with the support of my family and coaches I will be forgoing my senior year and entering the 2010 NFL draft,” Clausen said in a release handed out by the school before his news conference
Clausen will be fulfilling that dream as he is one, if not, the top QB prospect in the draft. Clausen was second in passing efficiency, had 28td passes and only 4 ints this year.
Moving onto the draft is smart because Clausen is the most NFl-ready Qb this drafting year. He knows how to keep pocket presence, he is a very efficent and accurate thrower, and he knows how to hit the deep ball. Those skills already intact give him the utmost advantage against the other Qbs.
Tate has another story. He is relatively small for a wide receiver, but don’t let that fact deceive you. He has great play-making skills. I have seen some experts compare him to Steve Smith, and I totally agree with them. He is one of those guys that you are sure he will come down with the ball.  That level of trust is crucial between Qb and receiver.
Like I said in my previous article on the same matter, Clausen would either stay together or leave together. The fact of the matter was it was just smarter and more logical to enter the draft rather than staying.
I wish the best of luck to both of them in their NFl career, and will be watching how they progress in their NFl career.
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* – Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate photo credit: AP Photo/Joe Raymond via The Examiner
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