Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette have changed the landscape of college football forever, and they might not even know it.
The two star running backs announced in early December that they would skip their teams’ bowl games and train for the NFL draft. McCaffrey, from Stanford, missed the Sun Bowl against North Carolina. Fournette, from Louisiana State, missed playing in the Citrus Bowl against Louisville.
When looking at these cases individually, it makes sense. At the beginning of the 2016 season, McCaffrey and Fournette were Heisman front-runners. However, injuries and lackluster seasons kept both of their teams from reaching the College Football Playoff (CFP).