On Tuesday, the NFL released the official number of early entrants for the 2020 draft.
Of the 115 early entrants, 99 athletes were granted special eligibility (three years removed from high school) and 16 will have graduated but have collegiate eligibility remaining.
Last year, a record 135 collegians left early for the NFL draft. Of those, nearly one-third did not hear their name called on draft day. The siren song of the NFL sometimes isn’t so sweet.
The SEC, proving once again it is the most talented and competitive conference in the nation, saw 35 players forgo their senior year. The Big Ten lost 21 early entrants, the ACC and Pac-12 each lost 13 and the Big 12 lost 8 players to the draft. Other conference and NCAA division early losses include:
- Mountain West, 6
- AAC, 5
- Conference USA, 4
- Independents, 3
- Sun Belt, 1
- MAC, 0
- FCS, DII, DIII, 5
National champion LSU lost the most early entrants with 9. SEC rivals Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M were next, losing 6, 5 and 4, respectively.
Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas (junior) is widely expected to be one of the early entrants drafted in the top 10. Other Georgia early entrants include tackle Isaiah Wilson (RS soph, 2nd-3rd round), guard Solomon Kindley (RS junior, late 1st-2nd round), quarterback Jake Fromm (junior, 1st-2nd round) and running back D’Andre Swift (junior, 1st-2nd round).
The 2020 NFL Draft will be the 85th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held from April 23–25, 2020, in Paradise, Nevada and will be televised live on ESPN.