And the beat goes on exactly one week before the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the upcoming NFL draft, with Colorado losing its first player this go-around to the professional ranks.
Following up on a tweet from his brother last night, offensive lineman David Bakhtiari confirmed he’s giving up a shot at playing his senior season and will instead declare as an undergraduate eligible for this April’s NFL draft. Bakhtiari said the departure of Jon Embree, who was fired in late November, had no impact on his decision as some have speculated.
Instead, his draft evaluation led him to making the decision.
“I woke up yesterday (Monday) and decided this is what I want to do,” Bakhtiari said. “I’ve been contemplating this for a long time. It didn’t have anything to do with (CU Coach) Jon Embree being fired; I had always intended to see where the NFL was going position me after I submitted myself for the review.”
“I sent in my draft evaluation form once it came back, there was a lot of deliberation with my family about what I wanted to do. Such things as the goals I wanted to accomplish in college, and the goals I want to set for myself in the NFL. The evaluation came back and had me in the second to third round range for a pick, but I also received some good feedback from Steve Marshall (his O-line coach at CU) and Coach Embree who spoke with several of their contacts around the league, and they thought I might even go a little bit higher, and that helped, too.”
Bakhtiari started 33 of the 34 games in which he played for the Buffs.
“There’s no doubt we would love to have him, but we understand it is a family decision and we will fully support what the young man has decided to do,” new head coach Mike MacIntyre said.
