Record 98 underclassmen declare for NFL Draft
A record 98 underclassmen, including Johnny Manziel and Jadeveon Clowney, have made themselves eligible for the NFL draft in May. The league released the list of early entrants Sunday and said the number has risen six straight seasons.
The deadline for underclassmen to apply was Jan. 15. Last year, 73 underclassmen entered the draft. The year before it was 65, and in 2011 it was 56.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2014/story/_/id/10318142/record-98-undercla…
January 20th, 2014 at 7:48 AM ^
Is there a reason the date can not be moved up?
January 20th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
makes perfect sense to the NFL, it's about halfway between the Superbowl and the first pre-season game.
January 20th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^
In addition to GoBLUinTX comment about it being a great opportunity to get the brand back in front of it's base in the "off-season", the other driving factor is evaluation time. April/May allows for all teams (even those in the Super Bowl) plenty of time to evaluate all the talent. Think of the number of guys who get drafted out of tiny colleges most people have never heard of. It takes time to find and evaluate those players. In a high stakes industry like the NFL, coaches, CEO's, talent evaluators, etc. want every available minute possible to make sure they are going to draft the right players.
January 19th, 2014 at 10:28 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 10:39 PM ^
January 20th, 2014 at 12:02 AM ^
I am betting that all 98 think they are going in the first round.
January 20th, 2014 at 4:37 AM ^
Maybe players are worried about injuries (witness Clowney and maybe more to the point Marcus Lattimore). The concussion issue is something thats pretty well known if you pay attention to sports on any level. It would follow that your body can only take so much beating as a sum total of cumulative damage (unless punter or fg kicker, etc).
You go out and get the $375k for a rookie minimum salary. Nice pay comparatively. If you wash out in 1 year then having banked some of that (hopefully) you can return to your alma mater and finish things up. Meanwhile you can afford to eat at the Pizza House regularly and probably live in a nice apartment and not some run down student slum rental house. I'm not saying every player is savvy enough to follow this plan but it would make sense to me.
January 20th, 2014 at 5:55 AM ^
This is a trend that should end, but you never know. Many of these guys will go fouth round or lower, if for no other reason than there are just to many of them. While it makes sense that they want to get the clock started for their next contract, the fact is that leaving early for most of them will mean they may never get to a second contract.
Sadly, NFL teams will give higher draft picks a much longer leash and more opportunities to succeed because of how much more they perceive their investment in a higher draft pick. So, leaving early and being drafted later means teams are less likely to give you the opportunity to succeed.
In my opinion, unless you are a guaranteed top 15 draft pick you should stay in school. Why 15? Because lower than that and you could drop out of the first round, which is not unusual. From a Michigan perspective, Donovan Warren is a great example, if he stays he probably goes in the top 3 rounds and at least gets a chance on an NFL roster.
On a different subject, I find it funny that so many people think the rookie scale is wrong because athletes that don't ultimately play well in the NFL may not get a big pay day. To me it seems like the perfect system. If you actually make it to the NFL and play well you will get a big pay day, if you don't you won't. Granted some that get injured may lose out and I feel bad for them, but ultimately you are still talking about someone not getting paid for not being on the job. If they were smart they got a degree in college and have a ton of opportunities left.
January 20th, 2014 at 6:47 AM ^
if teams opt to keep lesser players who are younger and have more potential. Really what the contract did is funnel more money to the stars of the league. The lesser players are kind of left to battle to survive. You may see different strategies from teams close to competing. Picking up players who are better quality now and losing teams retaining players in hopes of developing for the future. It obviously happened before but may be emphasized more going forward.
January 20th, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
basically enables NFL teams to establish a core group of players without risking a huge upfront investment. Veterans used to complain that the NFL like the NBA paid for potential in handing out huge contracts to top picks. Not anymore.
And because most early entry guys don't last long enough to earn more lucrative second contracts, they basically get screwed by the process. Because after three years, team executives are looking to replace their backups and special team guys with freshly drafted talent.
There was criticism today from a top Senior Bowl official over the ever-increasing number of kids leaving college early for the NFL, noting that in the past draft only 52 of 73 early entry players were actually drafted by league teams. In three years, the number of players going pro has actually doubled, from 46 to 98.
So, the sharp increase in early entry players means a lot of guys are getting bad advice, because even if you don't get drafted and go the free agent route, players like that typically have a harder time making a roster, and usually have to sweat it out on the practice squad where time and attention to their development makes them very expendable.
Besides issues as to physical readiness for the faster pro game, most kids who choose to leave face a whole set of issues they probably aren't mature enough to handle.
However, you look at it, even if kids play three years in college and redshirt a fourth, it takes a certain personlity and will to succeed in the league. And a lot of guys just aren't up to that regardless of their ability.