Boise State junior cornerback Orlando Scandrick will spend the holidays trying to make a life-altering decision: Return to the Broncos' football team for his senior season or leave a year early for the NFL.
Scandrick, like teammates Ryan Clady and Ian Johnson, sought the advice of the NFL College Advisory Committee. The committee gave him a fifth-round grade, which is an early estimate of his draft value.
Scandrick, who has started all but one game during his three years at Boise State, said he will evaluate his options between the Broncos' Hawaii Bowl date with East Carolina on Dec. 23 and the NFL's Jan. 15 deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft.
"Right now, if I had to choose, I'd be in limbo," Scandrick said.
Clady and Johnson were not available Thursday, so it's unknown what their grades were. Clady, the All-American left tackle, is considered a strong candidate to leave and be drafted in the first round; Johnson, the star tailback, almost certainly will return to Boise State.
Scandrick is somewhere in between. He started his first game as a true freshman in 2005 at Georgia, came off the bench the next week and has started 36 straight games since.
He has become a more consistent player this year and shown a new skill, blocking a team-high four kicks. His greatest asset is his speed, which allowed him to run a 4.36-second 40-yard dash and makes him almost unblockable on the Broncos' field-goal block team.
Scandrick also has two interceptions, a forced fumble and six pass breakups this year. He was not named to the All-WAC first or second team.
"I thought he had a tremendous year," defensive backs coach Marcel Yates said. "We played a lot of man to man out there and he didn't get beat a lot, if at all."
Scandrick missed most of the second half in the regular-season finale at Hawaii with a thumb injury that required surgery. He expects to return to practice Friday and play in the Hawaii Bowl.
He says he understands how difficult the decision he faces will be. He is on track to graduate in December 2008, he said, and probably could increase his draft stock by returning to college.
"It's a tricky thing," Scandrick said. "You just never know. It's amazing that I have an opportunity to have the NFL even consider me coming in and being a part of that league. I haven't really put much thought into it."
He says he has been focused on getting healthy and helping the Broncos win another bowl trophy.
When he returns home to Southern California after the bowl game, he will begin researching his decision.
"I don't want to take anything for granted," he said. "I don't want to live with any regrets. So I'm going to go home and talk to my family about it and do what's in the best interest for me. I talked to my mom and my dad about it. They all want to support me in whatever I do. They just want me to be happy.''
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