There are already several factors that go into which teams qualify for the College Football Playoff each season. Todd McShay, however, thinks there should be at least one more.
On Monday, The Ringer NFL Draft analyst appeared on The Ryen Russillo Podcast to discuss the College Football Playoff’s first-ever field of 12. And in taking issue with SMU’s selection over Alabama, McShay called for an NFL talent evaluator to have a literal seat at the table for the CFP selection committee.
“I recognize this is not about the NFL Draft,” McShay said. “But don’t you think a part of that committee, there should be someone representing the talent — like how much talent these teams truly have? I talk about this all the time, NFL scouts are on the road for months…
“I don’t know if there are any more people that are not part of NFL organizations, a group that would have more insight into what the talent level is than the Senior Bowl, who’s putting together their lists and I think they have 11 scouts on the road. They have draft meetings… I’m not trying to make this about the NFL Draft, but I am trying to make this about best teams.”
Ryen Russillo and Todd McShay workshop adding an extra member to the college football playoff committee for a different perspective.
Russillo – “If @dannykanell were ever on the committee, I’d stop watching college football.” 😂😂😂#CFB #CFBPlayoff #CollegeFootballPlayoff pic.twitter.com/VwfBrNfKI0
— Jake Bennett (@Jake__Bennett__) December 10, 2024
McShay proceeded to do a quick analysis of the College Football Playoff contenders and as you might expect, most of the NFL Draft talent belongs to the usual suspects. To be clear, the former ESPN analyst doesn’t think NFL Draft talent should solely decide who makes the playoff and who doesn’t; he just thinks it should be a part of the equation, suggesting Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy for the role.
Russillo conceded that McShay did a good job selling the idea, but pointed out its glaring flaws. Most notably, there are plenty of college football teams loaded with NFL-caliber players that simply have bad seasons. What’s the point of factoring the NFL Draft into the equation when a team like 2-10 Florida Still is filled with potential prospects?
While it’s easy to see why somebody would want to introduce as much information as possible to the conversation when making razor thin decisions, the reality is that talent projections are irrelevant when it comes to how college football crowns its champion. Rather than relying on its reputation as an NFL Draft factory, perhaps Alabama’s roster full of future draft picks should have beaten Vanderbilt or scored more than three points against a six-win Oklahoma team.
