Record number of student-athletes to enter NFL draft

NEW YORK (AP) — A record number of college football players will bypass their remaining years of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

The 135 players forgoing eligibility surpasses the 119 from last year. The NFL released the official list on Friday. There are 103 underclassmen eligible for the April 25-27 draft. Another 32 players have graduated but still have college eligibility.

The vast majority of players made their intentions known ahead of Monday’s NFL deadline. Among the most notable were Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray of Oklahoma and Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins.

Alabama has seven players among the 135, the most of any school, including All-America defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, All-America safety Deionte Thompson and All-America offensive tackle Jonah Williams. Ohio State and Oklahoma each have six players.

Murray has already signed a contract with the Oakland Athletics after being selected in the first round of the MLB draft in June. Murray has yet to break his deal with the A’s, but he could abandon it to play in the NFL. Murray, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and 195, had a spectacular season with the Sooners and is a possible first-round pick by NFL teams.

The 103 underclassmen who have met the NFL’s three-year eligibility rule and renounced their remaining eligibility to enter the draft are three short of last year’s record 106. That number has been trending up for years, including a spike in 2014, when 98 underclassmen were granted special eligibility by the league. In 2013, 73 players fell into that category.

Since 2014, at least 95 underclassmen entered the draft without completing their degrees in every season but 2015, when the number was 74.

“It is not a good situation,” said former Dallas Cowboys executive Gil Brandt, who now works for the NFL Network.

Brandt said too many players who are not ready to compete in the NFL are swayed by agents to enter the draft. He said offensive linemen and quarterbacks in particular can usually benefit from more college seasoning.

“When we start taking all these guys, they’re doing the colleges a disservice, they’re doing the players a disservice,” Brandt said.

Among the players who didn’t need special entry granted by the league because they had fulfilled their degree requirements were quarterbacks Daniel Jones of Duke, Jarrett Stidham of Auburn and Tyree Jackson of Buffalo, along with Clemson All-America defensive end Clelin Ferrell and Northern Illinois All-America defensive end Sutton Smith.

Athletes

Ed Alexander, NT, LSU

Jeff Allison, LB, Fresno State

JJ Arcega-Whiteside, WR, Stanford

Mike Bell, DB, Fresno State

Amani Bledsoe, DE, Oklahoma

Nick Bosa, DE, Ohio State

Miles Boykin, WR, Notre Dame

A.J. Brown, WR, Mississippi

Marquise Brown, WR, Oklahoma

Sean Bunting, DB, Central Michigan

Brian Burns, DE, Florida State

Devin Bush, LB, Michigan

Hamp Cheevers, DB, Boston College

Damarea Crockett, RB, Missouri

Maxx Crosby, DE, Eastern Michigan

Tyrel Dodson, LB, Texas A&M

Greg Dortch, WR, Wake Forest

Clifton Duck, DB, Appalachian State

Jovon Durante, WR, Florida Atlantic

David Edwards, OT, Wisconsin

Bobby Evans, OT, Oklahoma

Datryan Evans, TE, Friends

Noah Fant, TE, Iowa

Jazz Ferguson, WR, Northwestern St.

Malik Gant, DB, Marshall

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, DB, Florida

Rashan Gary, DE, Michigan

Zach Gentry, TE, Michigan

Kevin Givens, DT, Penn State

Jalen Guyton, WR, North Texas

Mecole Hardman, WR, Georgia

Kelvin Harmon, WR, NC State

N’Keal Harry, WR, Arizona State

Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State

Darrell Henderson, RB, Memphis

Nate Herbig, G, Stanford

Justice Hill, RB, Oklahoma State

Trysten Hill, DT, Central Florida

T.J. Hockenson, TE, Iowa

Joshuwa Holloman, RB, Eastern Michigan

Elijah Holyfield, RB, Georgia

Travis Homer, RB, Miami

Amani Hooker, DB, Iowa

Lil’Jordan Humphrey, WR, Texas

Joe Jackson, DE, Miami

Josh Jacobs, RB, Alabama

Andre James, OT, UCLA

Darryl Johnson, DE, NC A&T

Diontae Johnson, WR, Toledo

Tyron Johnson, WR, Oklahoma State

Michael Jordan, G, Ohio State

Vosean Joseph, LB, Florida

Tre Lamar, LB, Clemson

Dexter Lawrence, DT, Clemson

Justin Layne, DB, Michigan State

Greg Little, OT, Mississippi

David Long, DB, Michigan

Julian Love, DB, Notre Dame

Alize Mack, TE, Notre Dame

Alexander Mattison, RB, Boise State

Connor McGovern, G, Penn State

D.K. Metcalf, WR, Mississippi

Shareef Miller, DE, Penn State

Dillon Mitchell, WR, Oregon

David Montgomery, RB, Iowa State

Trayvon Mullen, DB, Clemson

Byron Murphy, DB, Washington

Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma

Isaac Nauta, TE, Georgia

Chidi Okeke, OT, Tennessee State

Ed Oliver, DT, Houston

Jachai Polite, DE, Florida

Ryan Pulley, DB, Arkansas

Taylor Rapp, DB, Washington

Riley Ridley, WR, Georgia

Tyler Roemer, OT, San Diego State

Miles Sanders, RB, Penn State

Jordan Scarlett, RB, Florida

Kendall Sheffield, DB, Ohio State

Jeffery Simmons, DT, Mississippi State

Devin Singletary, RB, Florida Atlantic

Darius Slayton, WR, Auburn

Irv Smith, TE, Alabama

Kaden Smith, TE, Stanford

Saivion Smith, DB, Alabama

Benny Snell, RB, Kentucky

Dredrick Snelson, WR, Central Florida

Jace Sternberger, TE, Texas A&M

Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida

Darwin Thompson, RB, Utah State

John Ursua, WR, Hawaii

Kahale Warring, TE, San Diego State

Mike Weber, RB, Ohio State

Antoine Wesley, WR, Texas Tech

Devin White, LB, LSU

Kerrith Whyte, RB, Florida Atlantic

Greedy Williams, DB, LSU

James Williams, RB, Washington State

Joejuan Williams, DB, Vanderbilt

Preston Williams, WR, Colorado State

Quinnen Williams, NT, Alabama

Trayveon Williams, RB, Texas A&M

Mack Wilson, LB, Alabama

Graduated Also Eligible

Rodney Anderson, RB, Oklahoma

Alex Barnes, RB, Kansas State

Ryan Bates, OT, Penn State

Venzell Boulware, G, Miami

Hakeem Butler, WR, Iowa State

Xavier Crawford, DB, Central Michigan

Jamel Dean, DB, Auburn

Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson

Cody Ford, OT, Oklahoma

Youhanna Ghaifan, DT, Wyoming

Joe Giles-Harris, LB, Duke

Penny Hart, WR, Georgia State

Tyree Jackson, QB, Buffalo

Daniel Jones, QB, Duke

Dre’Mont Jones, DT, Ohio State

Dawson Knox, TE, Mississippi

David Long, LB, West Virginia

Erik McCoy, C, Texas A&M

Jakobi Meyers, WR, NC State

Anthony Nelson, DE, Iowa

Tony Pollard, RB, Memphis

Anthony Ratliff-Williams, WR, North Carolina

Dax Raymond, TE, Utah State

Quart’e Sapp, LB, Tennessee

Cortrelle Simpson, WR, Richmond

Sutton Smith, DE, Northern Illinois

Jarrett Stidham, QB, Auburn

William Sweet, OT, North Carolina

Josiah Tauaefa, LB, Texas-San Antonio

Deionte Thompson, DB, Alabama

Jonah Williams, OT, Alabama

Caleb Wilson, TE, UCLA

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