Yep. This is why it's hard for me to wrap my mind around this. In a complete vacuum, of course it's smart to sit out. You can just workout until April and you're a millionaire. But nobody has ever done that before, ever. And the reason is because, if you're a football player, you play football. Scouts, GMs, your teammates....everyone hits you with a side-eye in a normal climate if you just say, "Hey, I know I'm good enough to play in the league, so y'all got this. I'll be in the weight room".
So clearly, the only reason kids are doing this now is because of Covid. Nothing else has changed. 2020 is the same as every single season since 1880 except for one variable: COVID-19. And, IMO, kids have people in their ear saying, "Now is your chance. You can do what people really SHOULD have been doing for a long time, but now you have an acceptable excuse. You don't want to play because of Covid. Opt-out. Let's go to the bank."
So, if you wanna say he's smart by sitting out, I agree. But also if you wanna say it's all bull**** and Covid has nothing to do with it, that's also true.