Bentley, Edwards receive draft grades

A little less than a month ago, Bryan Edwards, Jake Bentley and a bunch of other Gamecock juniors did what most do after the season: submit paperwork for the NFL.

Now, with their draft grades in and the season one game from being officially over, they have a decision to make.

Both Edwards and Bentley both said they received their feedback from the league and are now mulling things over before ultimately deciding about their future after the game.

“I’m still trying to make up my mind,” Edwards said. “I’ll decide after the bowl game.”

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The way the draft process works for juniors is they can apply to be graded by NFL scouts and will get one of three responses back: first round pick, second rounder or come back to school.

Edwards, who set career highs for yards (809) and touchdowns (7) this season, said he received the third option telling him it’d be smarter to come back for his senior season.

With Deebo out, Edwards is expected to be the team’s top receiver and go-to target. Samuel announced he would skip the team’s bowl game earlier this month and Edwards said he never thought of doing that since a good bowl game could improve his potential draft stock.

“That wasn’t one of the things I would do. Because of my situation, I feel good and there’s nothing that will hold me back,” he said. “There’s nothing I would lose. It’s another opportunity to go play with my brothers, and I’m going to take advantage of it.”

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For Bentley, he submitted paperwork for the NFL as well and didn’t divulge what grade he got back.

He said, like he said multiple times before, he was focused solely on the Belk Bowl and will decide after the game after already having talks with head coach Will Muschamp about his future.

“We’ve been through it,” Bentley said. “I think it’d be unfair to my teammates and seniors if I didn’t put my full focus into this game and what we have to do.”

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Those conversations with Muschamp and the rest of the coaching staff will continue after the bowl game and Bentley goes through all of his options.

“I’m just trying to weigh all my options still. We’ll see after the game what the final decision is.”

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