You all see this as the players not taking responsibility. What about the agents taking responsibility? This feels to me kind of like employers (the players) holding their employees (the agents) accountable...
You know, we don't know exactly what all went on, so what I'm writing here is going to be speculation. But, I think some of this might be a good move on the players' parts. Now, I know the article basically says this whole scenario doesn't seem likely since these agents have other players as clients, but I don't buy that reasoning.
My impression is that many agents spend time not just helping their clients prepare for the draft/negotiate/etc., but also kissing up to the players. The agents want to stay on board (after all, that's how they get their money, just a cut from these contracts), and I'm sure will tell the players how great they (the players) are, how many teams are so interested in them, how they are going to be drafted so high, etc. It wouldn't surprise me at all if those agents had repeatedly told their clients a bunch of lies about what was going to happen to the player come draft day. I'm betting this is part of their initial "sell", also: if one agent is telling you: "I think you're a first rounder" and another is telling you: "Look, you're good, but realistically you'll be lucky to be taken in the second.", guess who these college kids are likely to gravitate toward in selecting an agent. And, when whatever great things that were promised don't come to pass the agents can then just help the players blame whatever as the reason they didn't get what was promised, rather than blaming the agent for the bad advice. Just like any employee, if you've dealt with an agent on a personal basis for a long time, it's hard to just let that person go, so it doesn't surprise me if agents aren't fired even when their promises don't pan out.
So, maybe these players just realized that their agents had been repeatedly lying to them, and decided to fire them. I don't see them blaming the agents for their drop, so much as saying these agents didn't do what they should have. Also, agents DO give advice about preparing for the draft, and maybe these players decided in retrospect that the agents were giving them bad advice. There's something to the agents themselves being held accountable by their employer (the players), and maybe if agents were more upfront with their clients, this wouldn't be as likely to happen.
Like I said, that's speculation, but it seems just as likely to me as the players refusing to take responsibility for their own actions.
