Here's a nice article on WVU safety Robert Sands, who is thinking about whether or not to enter the 2011 NFL Draft. Now that the Champs Sports Bowl is over, Sands will focus on his decision. It doesn't sound like even he knows what he's going to do, however - he has received information from the NFL about his likely draft position, but he hasn't looked at it yet, or at least he hadn't as of Monday. If he's supposed to go in the first two rounds, it sounds like he'll enter the draft. If not, he'll stay with the Mountaineers.
↵↵↵"Third round and beyond, I'll stay," he said. "Second round, I've got to weigh my options on that. There's a lot of stuff to consider."
↵Absent from that thought? The first round.
↵"The first round," Sands said, "is the first round."
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Sands is even more emphatic here:
↵"My value right now – if I was a third rounder then I would definitely come back. I feel like I’m a first rounder, but at the least, a high second [rounder]. Anything after that is end of discussion – I’ll be back."↵
We'll see what happens, but Sands could be sticking around for another year. SB Nation's Mocking The Draft blog ranks Sands 92nd among draft prospects, which would put him well outside the first two rounds. I'm hunting around for current mock drafts that have him in the first round, and I can't find one. He's certainly a serious draft prospect, but perhaps not as much as he thinks he is.