On-the-field struggles don't mean the death of NIL, I promise

Good morning, and thanks for your continued support of Extra Points.

It's no secret that many of the early big names in NIL deals have struggled on the field this season. Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz filed a trademark on his personal logo even before July 1. So far, he's thrown six interceptions and just two touchdowns, and his QBR is among the worst in the country. Miami's D'Eriq King has also thrown more interceptions than touchdowns, and is battling injuries. Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux has been hurt. Clemson's DJ Uiagalelei, the first college football player to appear in a nationwide commercial, has badly struggled on the field as well.

This led gambling and pixilated frog correspondent Darren Rovell to suggest that the NIL marketplace would suffer.

Spencer Rattler, DJ Uiagalelei, D’Eriq King & Kayvon Thibodeaux were the hot names in name, image & likeness. They haven’t met expectations.

I say that leads to a college athlete marketing hit, @DarrenHeitner disagrees. Our live argument is NOW.https://t.co/Xoe1XAsTYA

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 29, 2021

NIL expert Darren Heitner clearly disagreed, but honestly, I was thinking about this too. So I reached out to a few other experts.