DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel's stance on players who are thinking about leaving early for the NFL is that they should go if they're first-round material. And according to reports, he's strongly encouraging Chris "Beanie" Wells to turn pro.

Figuring running backs have a short shelf life — Beanie already has proved to be injury prone — and knowing the Buckeye star could be a top-10 pick, Tressel believes Wells would be foolish to pass up riches and risk suffering a career-ending injury by coming back for his senior year.

OSU fans might be a little uncomfortable with the coach seemingly pushing the Buckeyes' top player out the door, but Tressel deserves credit for at least trying to help Wells make a sound business decision — even though the team would take a hit. And the truth is, Tressel's input doesn't appear to have much impact on a player's decision anyway.

Linebacker James Laurinaitis and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins could have been first-round picks last spring but came back for their senior years. Jenkins won the Thorpe Award, Laurinaitis captured the Lott Trophy, and both probably helped their draft status.

Before them, A.J. Hawk, Will Smith and Mike Doss passed up big bucks.

Actually, Tressel's approach might ultimately work in his favor. Given the size of rookie contracts, those stars already have millions of reasons to go, but playing for a coach who has your best interests at heart is at least one reason to stay.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125

or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.