Examining recent early-entry SEC players in the NFL draft

While the college football world is focused on the upcoming National Signing Day, a group of former SEC players are preparing for the NFL Combine, their respective pro days and the draft.

One of the trends in recent seasons is an increase in the number of early entrants, which rose year over year from 53 in 2010 to a recond 98 in 2014. Each year, more and more players were left without an NFL team and with unused college eligibility (and in some cases the chance to finish a degree for free).

The NFL Draft Advisory Board, in an attempt to better educate players, changed its policy in 2015, offering only grades of “first round,” “second round” or “stay in school. It appeared to create positive change, as the number of early entrants dropped from 98 to 74 overall (27 to 22 in the SEC).

But the NFL agents proved persuasive in 2016. Including graduated players with college eligibility remaining, 107 players are leaving early for the draft, though the NFL’s official number, 96, is two short of the record. The SEC number moved from 22 back to 27 (by our count, which includes former LSU CB Rashard Robinson, among others).

The whole process continues to invite criticism, with coaches politicking for players to be able to return to school after going through the Combine if feedback from the NFL is negative, or getting more time to decide to declare.

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Just how have the SEC players fared who enter the draft early? We decided to take a detailed look at the early NFL draft entries from the SEC in the last five years. Here’s a breakdown of where NFL teams drafted them.

A combined seven early-entry SEC players went undrafted from 2010-12. The next two years produced 15 such undrafted players before the number fell back to five last year. If recent trends hold, five or six of the early-entry candidates from the conference will go undrafted this year.

The trend of players leaving for the NFL early will be tough to curtail, especially as information about the long-term health problems associated with football and head injuries becomes mainstream. It’s become such common knowledge that running backs can expect a limited NFL shelf life as well. (15 of the SEC’s early entrants in the last two years were running backs.) Players want to get paid for playing and make their money while they can.

But hopefully, with a smarter system for pre-draft evaluations, and some better-informed decisions, we’ll see fewer players forego the chance to finish their education and also fail to draw a check as a professional football player.

Also, a whopping 36 early-entry SEC players have gotten picked in the first round the last five years, half of which were selected in the Top 10. Most early entrants from the SEC have gotten drafted in the first three rounds or not at all, suggesting that for a number of players, poor decision-making, not necessarily bad information, led to entering early and going undrafted.

Alabama has placed a remarkable nine early-entry players in the first round in the five most recent NFL drafts.

Here’s a year-by-year look at the SEC early entries from the last five years.

2011 Early Entries

Total Players: 15
Undrafted: 20 percent

2012 Early Entries

Total Players: 12
Undrafted: 8 percent

2013 Early Entries

Total Players: 32
Undrafted: 22 percent

2014 Early Entries

Total Players: 27
Undrafted: 30 percent

Christopher Smith

An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.