This was interesting and enlightening.
Apparently football players that graduate are more successful in the NFL than those that do not and team success is reflected in this.
Philadelphia's philosophy of pursuing graduates was born when Roseman, the Eagles' general manager since 2010, and Kelly, the team's second-year coach, each discovered that teams with the most college graduates are overwhelmingly successful. Kelly learned this late in his coaching tenure at Oregon, when former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, whose son played at Oregon, mentioned in a talk to Oregon players that in the 2000s, the two teams who happened to have loads of graduates were the Colts and New England Patriots. Those teams dominated the first decade of this century.
Comments
Speaking in generalities, that equates to getting a player that has stayed in college at least four years and is more mature, a player that demonstrates the ability to accomplish goals despite hurdles along the way, a player that manages his time well, etc. So that determination is not much of a surprise. Still, it's nice to see it verified.
Stay in school and you have a higher chance of being in a high caliber organization?
The degree part is probably not all that relevant. I think it's more of stay in school and get an additional 2 years of coaching. Not to mention a 22 or 23 year old is a bit more mature than a 20 year old.