Why it wasn’t easy for Max Duggan to enter the NFL Draft

TCU quarterback Max Duggan acknowledged on Tuesday that his decision to enter the 2023 NFL Draft on Sunday was hard, but he felt it was the right one for him.

“I thought about it for awhile,” Duggan said. “I talked to all the coaches, my family and a lot of other people. I didn’t really have a dog in the fight.”

It’s understandable for Duggan to have been so torn, considering how proudly he has talked about his love and affection for TCU and Fort Worth as a whole.

But as he continued to think on the decision, he couldn’t deny his dream of making it to the NFL.

“It was a tough decision, it was hard, it was not easy,” Duggan said. “But I just thought it was something I always wanted to do, something I was ready for and it just kind of time.”

Duggan had the option of running it back another year under Sonny Dykes and improve his draft stock even more, but ultimately he made the right decision.

After seizing the moment to become the starting quarterback after an injury to Chandler Morris in the season opener, Duggan pushed himself up draft boards with one of the best individual seasons in TCU history.

Duggan was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback. He was also the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Cashing that success in is the right move and Duggan has already accepted an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, the premiere postseason college football all-star game.

He’ll have ample opportunity to only improve his draft stock. As for the timing of his announcement, Duggan didn’t want to take the focus away from his team and TCU’s upcoming College Football Playoff game vs. No. 2 Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl.

“I didn’t want it to be a distraction, I was trying to get it out of the way,” Duggan said. The timing of the announcement may have led to some confusion if Duggan would play in the Fiesta Bowl.

In what’s become a growing trend in college football, declarations of entering the NFL Draft usually come with the player opting out of his team’s bowl game. That was never a thought for Duggan.

“You’re playing for a chance to play for a national championship,” Duggan said. “I think that makes a big difference of wanting to play and be out there. You want to be out there with the guys for the game you love playing. Just being out there with them for one of the last times, you cherish those moments.”