Twenty-eight prospects have accepted an invitation to attend the 2015 NFL Draft in Chicago at the end of this month, the league announced this week.
Leonard Williams headlines list of players attending 2015 NFL Draft
Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston won’t be in Chicago, but there are still plenty of top prospects who will be on hand to hear their name called by Roger Goodell.
However, the biggest news is probably a couple of the players who are not on the list -- the consensus top two quarterbacks in this year’s draft, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. Their absence is hardly a surprise, as it was reported a few weeks ago that both players preferred to watch the draft at home with their families. Another notable omission from the list of attendees is Alabama receiver Amari Cooper, the fourth-best player on Mocking The Draft’s ranking of the top 300 players in the draft.
Although those headliners won't be in attendance, there is still plenty of star power expected to be on hand for the draft at the Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University. USC defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who many draft analysts believe is the best player available and would have been the No. 1 pick in probably any other year, will be in Chicago and he's expected to go as high as No. 2 to the Tennessee Titans.
One of the top wide receiver prospects, West Virginia’s Kevin White, is also slated to attend the festivities in the Windy City. White is a possible top-five pick and has the potential to be an elite wideout in the NFL.
The two highest-ranked running backs, Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley, have also accepted invitations to the draft and both could hear their names called on Thursday night. No running back has been taken in the first round since 2012, an unprecedented drought for that position.
With Winston and Mariota not in attendance, it is likely that this will be the first time since 1994 that the No. 1 pick was not present. Defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson did not go to the draft in New York that year when he was taken first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Another interesting note is the lack of quarterbacks who will be at the event in Chicago. According to NFL Media’s Gil Brandt, this is the first time since 2000 that no signal callers will attend the draft.
Here’s the full list of attendees for the 2015 NFL Draft:
| Name | Position | School |
| Arik Armstead | DL | Oregon |
| Vic Beasley | DE/LB | Clemson |
| La'el Collins | OL | LSU |
| Landon Collins | S | Alabama |
| Bud Dupree | LB | Kentucky |
| Cameron Erving | OL | Florida State |
| Dante Fowler | DE/LB | Florida |
| Melvin Gordon | RB | Wisconsin |
| Randy Gregory | DE/LB | Nebraska |
| Todd Gurley | RB | Georgia |
| D.J. Humphries | OL | Florida |
| Kevin Johnson | CB | Wake Forest |
| Byron Jones | CB | Connecticut |
| Benardrick McKinney | LB | Mississippi State |
| Cedric Ogbuehi | OT | Texas A&M |
| DeVante Parker | WR | Louisville |
| Andrus Peat | OL | Stanford |
| Breshad Perriman | WR | Central Florida |
| Shane Ray | DL | Missouri |
| Brandon Scherff | OL | Iowa |
| Danny Shelton | DL | Washington |
| Devin Smith | WR | Ohio State |
| Donovan Smith | OT | Penn State |
| Jaelen Strong | WR | Arizona State |
| Laken Tomlinson | OL | Duke |
| Trae Waynes | CB | Michigan State |
| Kevin White | WR | West Virginia |
| Leonard Williams | DL | USC |
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