Nico Breaks His Silence, Explains His Opt-Out Decision

Not sure if this is a good business decision.

Ja'Marr Chase, Jalen Waddle, Devonta Smith, Chris Olave, Rashod Bateman, Rondale Moore, Tamorrion Terry, Terrace Marshall Jr., Amon-Ra St. Brown, Seth Williams, Marques Stevenson, Tylan Wallace, Sage Surratt, and Dazz Newsome all moving up in mock drafts. That's 14 WRs listed in the first 3 rounds. Nico Collins no longer appears.

Jalen Mayfield, Kwity Paye, and Aidan Hutchinson all appear in the the first 3 rounds.

It seems Collins could really benefit from a quality season, no matter how abbreviated.

Nico didn't have to offer any explanation IMO. The blame goes on COVID not him, he is doing what he thinks is best for himself and his family so best of luck to him.

Can we close the books on Nico now? Good luck to him and I wish he would have come back to play for Michigan. I think we have a great receiving corps. We could be asking "who's Nico?" in about a month. Nico's leaving give those guys more opportunities to step and shine. I am bullish on Roman Wilson, true Freshman (10.4-100M speed).

I think he's making a financial mistake and his reasoning doesnt make sense.  But whatever, it's his decision and good luck to him.

If I'm being completely honest, I would rather nico go on to the NFL. It's time for new blood, as we weren't getting anywhere with previous guys. This will force new guys to step up. Would it be nice to keep DPJ and Nico? Yeah, of course. But can you confidently say there would be a step up in WR production over last year? 

Honestly he doesn’t have to explain anything.  Kinda entitled by the fan base to put the pressure on him making him feel he needed to explain himself.  Made a decision he feels in his best interests.  That being said I defiantly was hoping he was going to make the opposite decision, because I think he’s a tremendous player that would’ve blown up nationally this year.  All American level talent IMO and I really want to beat o.

It's whatever. It's such a Michigan thing that our WR is opting out even though WRs with higher draft stocks have opted back in. That's not a knock on Michigan or Nico or anything else...it just feels like yet another reminder that Michigan just can't ever seem to have the nice things that everyone else enjoys. Maybe it's the cost of doing things the "right way", but I don't even know if that's the main culprit here (could just be bad luck) and I don't want to sound like I'm on a high horse.  

Good luck Nico.

The man got money from his agent.  Rosenhaus is a piece of shit.  

If he wasn't massively underused the past 2 years he would have been in the NFL this year anyway.

Part of the appeal of playing in the big house is playing in front of 100k+ fans.  That's also not happening this year.  Every game is a glorified scrimmage.  

All of us fans would give our left nut to play, we can't think of a reason why we would opt out. These players have so much talent and this is just a stop on the way to the NFL and getting paid.  It's a business decision. 

The elephant in the room is the fact that he was tragically underutilized in his M career. The WRs that are thought to be "better" than him that are coming back know that they are going to be utilized well, maybe even as centerpieces in their offenses. A couple examples:

Bateman is going to be the man in Minnesota's offense. The number one option, with a returning starting QB. He knows he will be the focus on O.

Devonta Smith has 24 catches on 27 targets in Alabama's last two games. Against Georgia, he had 11 receptions for 167 yards and 2 TD. He also has a returning QB with game experience.

Nico probably looked at the situation, the new QB (remember, he said he was coming back when Dylan was here) and the system, and thought his usage -- along with all the other factors: COVID, short season starting late, uncertainty about games being played -- did not merit his return. He probably figures that performing his best at the combine and in workouts will benefit him most.

And I don't blame him; he gave his best to the University. Best of luck to him in the NFL.

Please include a summary in your next FREEP link, OP.  I will not give that rag one click. 

He needed to make it public a while ago for me to care. Just saying.