Mark Sanchez Leaving USC for NFL,<Br>A Smart Business Decision

Mark Sanchez had a pretty good run at USC this year. The team went to the Rose Bowl, pummeled Penn State and has a legit argument to be the national champion.

And he enjoyed his run so much that he's leaving sunny Southern California and heading to the NFL. It seems like an odd thing to do, I suppose, because, well, USC would be a fun place to live and he would be the most popular guy on campus. On the other hand, it makes a whole hell of a lot of sense from a business perspective.

USC is losing a large number of its defensive core to the NFL. But aside from that, think about the various competitors for draft slots he'll be going up against this year versus the potential competition next season.

This year: Matthew Stafford and Nate Davis.

Next year? Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford (he's definitely not leaving this year) and Colt McCoy. That's just for starters, obviously, but it's a pretty decent little list. Sanchez will probably be the second guy on most quarterback boards; he'll at least be behind Stafford, but he'll end up making a bunch more bank now than he would in the future, so it's not totally shocking to see him bounce to the pros. Besides, Pete Carroll has like 40,000 more five-stars in waiting anyway.

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Mark Sanchez Leaving USC for NFL,
A Smart Business Decision

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