Stanford's Christian McCaffrey will skip Sun Bowl, focus on NFL Draft

Marc Lancaster

Stanford's Christian McCaffrey will skip Sun Bowl, focus on NFL Draft image

Christian McCaffrey isn't going to jeopardize his NFL prospects with a potential injury in a game that doesn't count for anything but pride.

MORE: Leonard Fournette skipping Citrus Bowl

The Stanford star announced on Twitter Monday that he will skip the Cardinal's Dec. 30 Sun Bowl game against North Carolina "so I can begin my draft prep immediately."

The junior running back called it a "very tough decision," but there's little doubt it's the wise one. It also might officially mark the beginning of a new trend for high-end draft prospects whose college teams don't make the College Football Playoff semifinals.

LSU's Leonard Fournette announced last week he will sit out the Citrus Bowl after an injury-plagued season. But while Fournette managed to play only seven games for the Tigers in 2016, McCaffrey finished the regular season healthy.

Bouncing back from an injury that kept him out of the Notre Dame game in mid-October, McCaffrey certainly looked good at the end of the season as he tallied 61 carries for 488 yards in Stanford's final two games last month.

The 2015 Heisman Trophy runner-up to Alabama's Derrick Henry, the 6-foot, 200-pound McCaffrey is projected by most as a late first-round pick in next spring's draft.

Marc Lancaster

Marc Lancaster Photo

Marc Lancaster joined The Sporting News in 2022 after working closely with TSN for five years as an editor for the company now known as Stats Perform. He previously worked as an editor at The Washington Times, AOL’s FanHouse.com and the old CNNSportsIllustrated.com, and as a beat writer covering the Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, and University of Georgia football and women’s basketball. A Georgia graduate, he has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2013.