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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — One Wolverine has seen enough, and apparently took off his winged helmet for the last time back on Jan. 1 as Michigan faced Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl.
That was right tackle Jalen Mayfield, but what about those players who heavily considered entering the 2020 NFL Draft just to decide to stay on campus and find themselves without football in the interim?
Of those who came back for another year were tight end Nick Eubanks, defensive end Kwity Paye and wide receiver Nico Collins — none of whom had announced their intentions to stay, wait and see how things play out, if there is a spring season or not, or any of the other variables that are currently unknown.
But on Wednesday, Eubanks made known that he is in the wait-and-see camp, at least for the moment, especially since he did decide to come back and ride out his final year of eligibility.
“Personally, I think about that a lot, especially now because the season being postponed,” Eubanks said. “Right now I’m just gonna stick around and train for a couple amount of months then see what it goes from there in terms of me making a decision of whether or not – whether or not there’s a spring decision or not – I think I’ll make my decision by then and see where I go from there.”
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But what if there is no spring season and Eubanks has to wait until Fall 2021 to see the field again? Would he continue to wait and still strap on the winged helmet for another year? Or would he try his hand at the NFL?
Again, there are a lot of unknowns at the moment, and Eubanks doesn’t have the answers save to wait and see.
“That’s a common question I get asked all the time,” Eubanks said. “Not saying I have an answer, but I’m taking this time to soak in what I can do now and what’s available to me now. That’s a long thought down the road, too. Like I said, just to sit down with the older guys to make that decision, because basically, that’s who I’m gonna be around next year if there is one. I think about that a lot and I give that some heavy thought every time I walk into Schembechler Hall and just being around the team, you get that same sensation about coming back and just trying to give it one more shot, even if things don’t go well or do go well, that’s something I’d think about a lot.”
Eubanks’ lumping in his decision with ‘the older guys’ is curious, as it seems that it may end up being something of a group decision.
A member of the 2016 recruiting class, he and a handful of other elder statesmen — including some from 2017 and 2018 — will have some decisions to make.
As of right now, there’s a ton of uncertainty. Could a spring season be a reality or was it merely a carrot dangled in the wind by the conference to entice players, staff and fans to not revolt more than they already have? Given that no plans have been released just yet, and players and parents have been petitioning the Big Ten for answers and a potential season reinstatement, we’re short on answers there.
But Eubanks does note: yes, it may be either a group exodus once football starts back up again, or conversely, it could be a case where they all have their last hurrah in Ann Arbor.
“There’s not too many older dudes here, but I talk to guys like Carlo, Kwity and Aidan – guys like that – Chris Evans,” Eubanks said. “We talk about that and it might be something we’re sitting on in terms of us next year, whether there’s a season next year – that’s a long thought. But one day (we’ll) sit down with those guys and we’ll talk about it.
“That’s one thing – I don’t know for sure – and they’re probably thinking the same thing: they don’t know for sure whether the decision will come down to all of us. I personally think that one or two guys fall into one plan, I think others will follow. That’s how tight we’ve been the last couple years or the last couple months. I honestly don’t know what those guys are gonna do, but I do know one thing: once we come down to one decision and those guys make their decision, I think the rest will follow.”