College Football: Which stars are skipping their bowl games?

Skipping bowl games appears to be the new trend in college football. Which top players won’t be playing in their bowl games this postseason?

More: Complete 2017-2018 bowl schedule

Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey surprised the college football world when they elected not to play in their respective bowl games last season. The decision didn’t seem to have deleterious effects for either of those two stars – both were selected in the first 10 picks of the 2017 NFL Draft.

The precedent has been set and skipping bowl games is still a hot button topic. However, the reach has expanded beyond the players projected to be first round locks. More players than ever before of varying levels of talent are choosing not to participate in bowl season this year. Instead they’re electing to begin preparations for the draft. While it hasn’t been publicly cited, avoiding injuries is a major driver in the decision process for most, if not all of these players.

Injuries are impossible to predict, but they do happen. Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith was on track to be a first round pick before suffering a knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2015 season. Last year it was Michigan’s Jake Butt that suffered a torn ACL in the Orange Bowl. That injury saw him too fall from a possible upper round selection to the fifth round. Both of those examples give NFL-bound players reason to be cautious as their college careers come to a close.

Here are some of the most notable players skipping a bowl game this season

Next: Predicting all 41 bowl games and CFB Playoff

Players skipping bowl games is no longer abnormal, it’s a real challenge facing college football today. As the more prestigious bowl games draw closer expect this list to continue to grow.