The NFL granted special eligibility to 106 underclassmen to enter 2018’s draft, the league announced Friday. That’s just the term for players who haven’t graduated from college, which means the vast majority of juniors declaring for the draft.
These college football teams are losing the most early entries to the NFL draft
Here’s the full list, led by Florida State, LSU, and Texas.
Approval for underclassmen to enter the draft is mostly a formality, and just about all of these college departures were already public. But we’ve now got final counts of what college programs will lose in early draft departures.
Florida State, LSU, and Texas are each losing six underclassmen to the draft, more than any other schools. Alabama is next at five departures. Auburn, Miami, Oklahoma, UCLA, and USC are each losing four players who had college eligibility remaining.
A full, sortable table is here:
2018 NFL draft underclassmen
Player | Pos. | College |
|---|---|---|
| Josh Adams | RB | Notre Dame |
| Olasunkanmi Adeniyi | DE | Toledo |
| Jaire Alexander | DB | Louisville |
| Mark Andrews | TE | Oklahoma |
| Dorance Armstrong | DE | Kansas |
| Jerome Baker | LB | Ohio State |
| Saquon Barkley | RB | Penn State |
| Jessie Bates | DB | Wake Forest |
| Orlando Brown | T | Oklahoma |
| Taven Bryan | DT | Florida |
| Deontay Burnett | WR | USC |
| Deon Cain | WR | Clemson |
| Antonio Callaway | WR | Florida |
| Geron Christian | T | Louisville |
| Simmie Cobbs | WR | Indiana |
| Keke Coutee | WR | Texas Tech |
| Vosean Crumbie | DB | Nevada |
| J.J. Dallas | DB | Louisiana-Monroe |
| James Daniels | C | Iowa |
| Sam Darnold | QB | USC |
| Carlton Davis | DB | Auburn |
| Michael Dickson | P | Texas |
| Tremaine Edmunds | LB | Virginia Tech |
| DeShon Elliott | DB | Texas |
| Minkah Fitzpatrick | DB | Alabama |
| Matt Fleming | WR | Benedictine |
| Nick Gates | T | Nebraska |
| Rashaan Gaulden | DB | Tennessee |
| Frank Ginda | LB | San Jose State |
| Rasheem Green | DT | USC |
| Derrius Guice | RB | LSU |
| Ronnie Harrison | DB | Alabama |
| Quadree Henderson | WR | Pittsburgh |
| Holton Hill | DB | Texas |
| Nyheim Hines | RB | North Carolina State |
| Jeff Holland | LB | Auburn |
| Mike Hughes | DB | UCF |
| Hayden Hurst | TE | South Carolina |
| Joel Iyiegbuniwe | LB | Western Kentucky |
| Ryan Izzo | TE | Florida State |
| Donte Jackson | DB | LSU |
| J.C. Jackson | DB | Maryland |
| Josh Jackson | DB | Iowa |
| Lamar Jackson | QB | Louisville |
| Derwin James | DB | Florida State |
| Richie James | WR | Middle Tennessee |
| Malik Jefferson | LB | Texas |
| Courtel Jenkins | DT | Miami |
| Kerryon Johnson | RB | Auburn |
| Ronald Jones | RB | USC |
| John Kelly | RB | Tennessee |
| Arden Key | LB | LSU |
| Christian Kirk | WR | Texas A&M |
| Du’Vonta Lampkin | DT | Oklahoma |
| Jordan Lasley | WR | UCLA |
| Chase Litton | QB | Marshall |
| Tavares Martin | WR | Washington State |
| Hercules Mata’afa | DE | Washington State |
| Ray-Ray McCloud | WR | Clemson |
| Tarvarus McFadden | DB | Florida State |
| R.J. McIntosh | DT | Miami |
| Reginald McKenzie | DT | Tennessee |
| Quenton Meeks | DB | Stanford |
| Kolton Miller | T | UCLA |
| D.J. Moore | WR | Maryland |
| Ryan Nall | RB | Oregon State |
| Nick Nelson | DB | Wisconsin |
| Kendrick Norton | DT | Miami |
| Isaiah Oliver | DB | Colorado |
| Dwayne Orso-Bacchus | T | Oklahoma |
| Da’Ron Payne | NT | Alabama |
| Kamryn Pettway | RB | Auburn |
| Eddy Pineiro | K | Florida |
| Trey Quinn | WR | SMU |
| D.J. Reed | DB | Kansas State |
| Justin Reid | DB | Stanford |
| Will Richardson | T | North Carolina State |
| Calvin Ridley | WR | Alabama |
| Austin Roberts | TE | UCLA |
| Korey Robertson | WR | Southern Mississippi |
| Josh Rosen | QB | UCLA |
| Bo Scarbrough | RB | Alabama |
| Dalton Schultz | TE | Stanford |
| Tim Settle | DT | Virginia Tech |
| Andre Smith | LB | North Carolina |
| Roquan Smith | LB | Georgia |
| Van Smith | DB | Clemson |
| Breeland Speaks | DE | Mississippi |
| Equanimeous St. Brown | WR | Notre Dame |
| Josh Sweat | DE | Florida State |
| Auden Tate | WR | Florida State |
| Maea Teuhema | T | Southeastern Louisiana |
| Trenton Thompson | DT | Georgia |
| Kevin Toliver | DB | LSU |
| Travonte Valentine | NT | LSU |
| Leighton Vander Esch | LB | Boise State |
| Vita Vea | NT | Washington |
| Mark Walton | RB | Miami |
| Denzel Ward | DB | Ohio State |
| Chris Warren | RB | Texas |
| Toby Weathersby | T | LSU |
| Jordan Whitehead | DB | Pittsburgh |
| JoJo Wicker | DT | Arizona State |
| Jalen Wilkerson | DE | Florida State |
| Connor Williams | T | Texas |
| Eddy Wilson | DT | Purdue |
A total of 106 players getting special eligibility is a new draft record, according to the league, topping the 98 who entered the 2014 draft. The number could’ve easily gone higher, with a couple of players who seemed likely to turn pro deciding to stay in school. Those include Stanford Heisman finalist running back Bryce Love and a bunch of players on Alabama and Clemson, who might see each other in the Playoff again.
In the latest mock draft by SB Nation’s Dan Kadar, early entrant QB Sam Darnold, from USC, goes first overall to the Browns. Other players on this list — UCLA QB Josh Rosen, Penn State RB Saquon Barkley, and Alabama DB Minkah Fitzpatrick — round out the top four. The first round will be loaded with college juniors.
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