Christian McCaffrey is this year’s victim of a dumb OTA rule that hurts rookies

The spring is a time for NFL rookies to acclimate to their new environment, develop chemistry with their new teammates, and absorb a playbook. But for a handful of rookies, including Christian McCaffrey of the Carolina Panthers, an antiquated rule keeps them away from team practices after rookie minicamp.

According to the NFL’s player personnel policy, no rookie can begin participating in a team’s offseason activities until after the last day of their school’s final exams.

It’s a well-meaning rule that aims to prevent athletes from cutting school just before the finish line to practice in the NFL. But it really only affects players who come from schools with a quarter system that lets out for summer break in June, rather than a semester system that ends in May.

Stanford, UCLA, and Oregon are among the prominent schools with a quarter system, and that means McCaffrey can’t join the Panthers until after final exams at Stanford finish on June 14, even though the running back isn’t even taking classes at the university.

“It sucks,” McCaffrey said, via Panthers.com. “It’s really tough.”

A year ago, the rule kept UCLA’s Myles Jack and Kenny Clark from participating in offseason practices with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers, respectively.

The exception to the rule are players who are able to graduate early, like Joshua Garnett and DeForest Buckner both did, allowing both to practice with the San Francisco 49ers.

But McCaffrey spent just three years at Stanford and cut his third short, opting to prepare for the NFL instead of play in the team’s bowl game. With no degree and another week until school is out at Stanford, McCaffrey is currently spending his offseason in Denver preparing for the chance to join his teammates on the practice field.

“[Running backs coach Jim Skipper will] quiz me over the phone, and then I’ll go over everything, and he’ll tell me what to learn for the next day,” McCaffrey said. “You can still get the plays down and get good training when you’re home, but nothing will ever compete with actually getting the reps on the field, being with the guys.

“It is what it is. That’s the rule, and we’ll just have to deal with it.”

For now, it’s the Panthers that have to deal with the rule, but the NFL would be wise to revise a policy that needlessly keeps a handful of rookies from learning and growing so that no more teams have to deal with it in the future.