Michigan RB Blake Corum's return why college football is 'thriving,' according to one analyst
Michigan football running back Blake Corum defied expectations when he decided to return for his senior season. His move could be an example of why new trends in college sports might be positive.
Much has been made about a transformational period in college football due to big money being thrown around in television contracts and NIL deals. But Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt believes that players like Corum sticking around has the sport in a really good place.
“There were all these reasons for it,” Klatt said this week. “And I know Jim Harbaugh told him, ‘Hey, you need to go. But Blake Corum is a prototypical example of what I’m about to talk about. If you have a third through fifth-round grade, and that’s probably where you’re gonna get drafted. And you are a star on your team, like a Blake Corum, or a Michael Penix, or a Bo Nix out at Oregon, well, guess what? You’re likely going to make as much or more money staying in school than you would in your rookie season in the National Football League.
“So you don’t automatically have to go [to the NFL] anymore. Because the NIL deals are really good, and rightly so. And because of that, we’re getting players that I think previously would have absolutely gone to the NFL, that are staying in college football again. The dawn of the Golden Age. Because of the depth of talent in our sport. And I think that that’s a really great thing.”
Corum has an On3 NIL Valuation of $1.1 million, which ranks No. 19 in On3’s NIL 100 rankings. If he were to make that much money during his final year at Michigan, it would be in line with what third-round picks make at the NFL level on their rookie contracts.
“Coach Harbaugh, he said to get the surgery and he told me to go to the league,” Corum said. “I said coach what would you do, he said if I were you I’d go to the league. But this is before I got the surgery, this was before I even thought about coming back, because I was going to the league. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
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“But then in the back of my head [I was thinking] you’re not going to be able to do that combine, you’re not gonna be able to show these scouts what you really do. You’ve already been doubted, not in terms of your playing ability, but your size. You’re not tall. That’s been a factor my whole life. So all these things were on my mind. Are they going to judge me off my film? Are they gonna think I’m slow if I don’t run the 40? Am I not gonna be able to prove myself or get drafted as high as possible? So all these things were going through my mind.”
Corum put plenty of great things on film last season, though. He rushed for 1,457 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games at Michigan, and many draft pundits had a day-two grade on him even with the knee surgery.
“The NFL’s not going nowhere,” Corum said in a recent interview. “So what’s one more year? I’m getting all these pros: my degree, the chance to win a national championship, the chance of leaving a true legacy, chance of being a hero, I’m in the community here big time, so I get one more year with the community, charities, and just giving back.
“There are too many pros for just something that’s always going to be there, so it was all about the bigger picture coming back honestly.”
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