password;1236293 wrote:I don't really see where this is going to hurt a kids chance to advance to the next level. You have to remember this is Penn State, not Eastern Kentucky or some other school that never gets noticed by the NFL scouts. They will still be competitive and they will still send kids to the next level if their coach can continue to sell the academics and prestige of a Penn State degree. The bowl ban doesn't mean a whole lot when it comes to getting noticed by the NFL scouts and there will be all kinds of attention on the program for the next couple of years and the media will be looking for a story to show how a program survived such severe punishment. I only look for about 2 down years, but it's not like they were posting undefeated seasons or competing for the national championship before this.
I think it will hurt a lot more than people realize. Even though 'this is Penn State', NFL scouts that see them want to see production. If your team is made terrible by the loss of scholarships it makes you look worse. For example, a QB might shine at one program because he has time to throw behind a great line and has great receivers to throw to. If you don't have that you get pressured, throw a ton of ints, and struggle in your development overall.
The scholarships don't seem like that big of a deal until you start breaking down the numbers.
Currently 85 scholarships allowed.
25 seniors on this years roster will be graduated by 2013
85-25=60(barring early entrants/transfers) left on the roster. Max of 15 scholarship recruits allowed for 2013, so 75 'good' players. The other 10 scholarships they have left will be given to walk-ons to make 85.
In 2014 the 65 max scholarship kicks in.
85 from 2013 will drop to at least 56 after 29 (current Juniors) graduate.
They can then either give all 56 still on the roster scholarships (which will no doubt have some walk-ons) and only recruit 9 new players or recruit their max of 15 and start pulling scholarships from current players.
Having a 2-deep is considered a bare minimum. That's 44 players on O and D and 66 if you add in the minimum bodies on special teams. Considering most teams lose several players to injury for a season or much more than that who might miss games for being banged up, they will have many walk-ons playing all over the place by necessity.
My guess is they will be fine this year, a little worse in 2013, and pretty awful from 2014 through at least 2018 (minimum)