Daily Blog •January 17, 2013

January 15th was the final date that underclassmen could declare for the 2013 NFL Draft. In total a record 77 players declared early and while some teams were hit hard by the early entries others were more lucky with several players deciding to return for another year. Today I will break which teams were hit hardest and which teams have the best returnees that turned down the NFL.

NFL Early Draft Entry Losers:

If one team ever epitomized being hit hard by early NFL Draft Entries, it would be the 2013 LSU Tigers, which will send a record 11 players early to the draft. While every unit on the team was hit hard, clearly the unit hit hardest is the LSU defense which will see the loss of arguably its top 5 or 6 players. It starts with Mingo and Montgomery at DE and continues with their best LB in Kevin Minter followed by CB Tharold Simon and S Eric Reid. The Tigers were featured here last year and still won 10 games, but that was following a 13-win season. Will they drop again or will Les Miles’ recruiting continue to restock their positions?

Tennessee new head coach Butch Jones will clearly have his work cut out for him with the loss of four players particularly on the offensive side with the loss of quarterback Tyler Bray along with wide receivers Justin Hunter and Cordarrelle Patterson. While I feel Jones was a good hire for Tennessee, he may undergo some 1st-year struggles much like he did at Cincinnati (4-8 his 1st year) before he posted back-to-back 10-win seasons.

2012 was clearly a disappointing season for Michigan State and while they should improve in 2013 it will be a struggle as they lost arguably their two best players on offense in running back Le’Veon Bell and tight end Dion Sims and while defensive end William Gholston underachieved this past year, no one can question his talent.

Other teams that lost significant contributors: Florida, Florida St, Georgia, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Stanford and Texas A&M.

Complete List of Underclassmen Leaving Early

First Name Last Name Pos HT WT Class Team
DJ Fluker OT 6-6 335 Jr. Alabama
Eddie Lacy RB 6-0 220 Jr. Alabama
Dee Milliner CB 6-1 199 Jr. Alabama
Alvin Bailey OG 6-5 312 Jr. Arkansas
Knile Davis RB 6-0 226 Jr. Arkansas
Corey Lemonier DE 6-4 246 Jr. Auburn
Keenan Allen WR 6-3 210 Jr. California
Steve Williams CB 5-10 185 Jr. California
DeAndre Hopkins WR 6-1 205 Jr. Clemson
David Bakhtiari OT 6-4 295 Jr. Colorado
Brandon Kaufman WR 6-5 215 Jr. Eastern Washington
Kyle Padron QB 6-4 220 Jr. Eastern Washington
Matt Elam S 5-10 202 Jr. Florida
Sharrif Floyd DT 6-3 303 Jr. Florida
Jelani Jenkins LB 6-0 237 Jr. Florida
Jordan Reed TE 6-3 243 Jr. Florida
Brandon Jenkins DE 6-3 260 Jr. Florida St
Xavier Rhodes CB 6-2 217 Jr. Florida St
Chris Thompson RB 5-8 187 Jr. Florida St
Menelik Watson OT 6-7 320 Jr. Florida St
Bjoern Werner DE 6-4 255 Jr. Florida St
Kwame Geathers DT 6-6 355 Jr. Georgia
Jarvis Jones LB 6-3 241 Jr. Georgia
Alec Ogletree LB 6-3 232 Jr. Georgia
Mike Edwards CB 5-10 180 Jr. Hawaii
Akeem Spence DT 6-1 300 Jr. Illinois
Chris Faulk OT 6-6 323 Jr. LSU
Michael Ford RB 5-10 216 Jr. LSU
Bennie Logan DT 6-3 295 Jr. LSU
Tyrann Mathieu CB 5-10 182 Jr. LSU
Barkevious Mingo DE/LB 6-5 240 Jr. LSU
Kevin Minter LB 6-2 245 Jr. LSU
Sam Montgomery DE 6-4 260 Jr. LSU
Eric Reid S 6-2 212 Jr. LSU
Tharold Simon CB 6-3 193 Jr. LSU
Spencer Ware RB 5-11 225 Jr. LSU
Brad Wing P 6-3 197 So. LSU
Le'Veon Bell RB 6-2 244 Jr. Michigan St
William Gholston DE 6-7 278 Jr. Michigan St
Dion Sims TE 6-5 285 Jr. Michigan St
Sheldon Richardson DT 6-4 295 Jr. Missouri
David Amerson CB 6-3 194 Jr. NC State
Stefphon Jefferson RB 5-11 210 Jr. Nevada
Giovani Bernard RB 5-10 206 So. North Carolina
Tyler Eifert TE 6-6 251 Jr. Notre Dame
Cierre Wood RB 6-0 215 Jr. Notre Dame
Johnathan Hankins DT 6-3 322 Jr. Ohio St
Tony Jefferson S 5-11 212 Jr. Oklahoma
Kenny Stills WR 6-1 189 Jr. Oklahoma
Tom Wort LB 6-0 237 Jr. Oklahoma
Joseph Randle RB 6-1 200 Jr. Oklahoma St
Jawan Jamison RB 5-8 200 So. Rutgers
Logan Ryan CB 6-0 190 Jr. Rutgers
Gavin Escobar TE 6-6 255 Jr. San Diego St
Marcus Lattimore RB 6-0 218 Jr. South Carolina
Terrence Brown CB 6-1 178 Jr. Stanford
Zach Ertz TE 6-6 252 Jr. Stanford
Levine Toilolo TE 6-8 265 Jr. Stanford
Justin Pugh OT 6-5 298 Jr. Syracuse
Josh Boyce WR 6-0 203 Jr. TCU
Stansly Maponga DE 6-2 265 Jr. TCU
Tyler Bray QB 6-6 215 Jr. Tennessee
Justin Hunter WR 6-4 200 Jr. Tennessee
Cordarrelle Patterson WR 6-3 205 Jr. Tennessee
Darrington Sentimore DT 6-2 288 Jr. Tennessee
Trabis Ward RB 5-10 200 Jr. Tennessee St
Da'Rick Rogers WR 6-3 206 Jr. Tennessee Tech
Brandon Moore DT 6-5 320 Jr. Texas
Luke Joeckel OT 6-6 310 Jr. Texas A&M
Damontre Moore DT 6-4 250 Jr. Texas A&M
Nickell Robey CB 5-8 165 Jr. USC
Robert Woods WR 6-1 190 Jr. USC
Joe Kruger DE 6-7 280 Jr. Utah
Jeff Tuel QB 6-3 221 Jr. Washington St
Marquess Wilson WR 6-4 185 Jr. Washington St
Stedman Bailey WR 5-10 195 Jr. West Virginia
Travis Frederick C 6-4 338 Jr. Wisconsin

By Conference

Conf #
SEC 32
Pac-12 11
ACC 8
Big 12 8
Big 10 6
FCS 4
Big East 3
MW 3
Indep 2

By Position

Pos #
RB 13
WR 11
CB 10
DT 9
DE 8
OL 8
TE 6
LB 5
QB 3
S 3
P 1

NFL Early Draft Entry Winners:

If winning their third national title in four years was not enough, Alabama’s leaders on offense and defense decided to return for their senior seasons and go for an unprecedented fourth title in five years. On offense, AJ McCarron who led the nation in pass efficiency and has had back-to-back outstanding performances in national championship games returns. On defense, linebacker CJ Mosley who had 40 more tackles than any other Tide defender also announced his return. The Crimson Tide clearly are the favorites to win the title in 2013 and could be an unanimous preseason #1, which would be unprecedented in recent college football history.

Last year at this time many were arguing that Logan Thomas could be a Top 5 pick for the 2013 NFL Draft, but after a mediocre season in which Thomas got no help from his surrounding players on offense, he made the wise decision to return for his senior season. Virginia Tech should be fine on defense once again under DC Bud Foster, but the difference for the Hokies will be much more experience coming back at the offensive line and running back positions, which should put less pressure on Thomas always having to make a play.

While the Clemson lost wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins early to the NFL, they received huge news with the return of quarterback Tajh Boyd whose improved play in 2012 was a big reason for the Tigers continued climb up the polls. In 2013 he will be throwing to a healthier Sammy Watkins and the defense should continue to improve under 2nd-yr DC Venables.

Other teams that return significant contributors: Stanford, Michigan, Notre Dame, Arizona St, BYU, Fresno St and UCLA

 

List of Significant RS Sophomores/Juniors
Who Announced Their Return

First Name Last Name Pos HT WT Class Team
CJ Mosley LB 6-2 234 Jr. Alabama
AJ McCarron QB 6-4 205 Jr. Alabama
Will Sutton DT 6-2 271 Jr. Arizona St
Cyril Richardson OT 6-5 335 Jr. Baylor
Kyle Van Noy LB 6-3 235 Jr. BYU
Tajh Boyd QB 6-1 225 Jr. Clemson
Derek Carr QB 6-3 205 Jr. Fresno St
Aaron Murray QB 6-1 211 Jr. Georgia
Charles Sims RB 6-0 206 Jr. Houston
Jonathan Brown LB 6-1 235 Jr. Illinois
Taylor Lewan OT 6-8 302 Jr. Michigan
Max Bullough LB 6-3 252 Jr. Michigan St
Gabe Jackson OG 6-4 320 Jr. Mississippi St
Taylor Martinez QB 6-1 200 Jr. Nebraska
Bryn Renner QB 6-3 215 Jr. North Carolina
James Hurst OT 6-7 310 Jr. North Carolina
Louis Nix III DT 6-3 326 So. Notre Dame
Zack Martin OT 6-4 304 Jr. Notre Dame
Bradley Roby CB 5-11 190 So. Ohio St
Ben Gardner DE 6-4 274 Jr. Stanford
Shayne Skov LB 6-3 251 Jr. Stanford
Trent Murphy LB 6-6 255 Jr. Stanford
Jackson Jeffcoat DE 6-5 250 Jr. Texas
Jake Matthews OT 6-5 305 Jr. Texas A&M
Anthony Barr LB 6-4 235 Jr. UCLA
Silas Redd RB 5-10 200 Jr. USC
Jordan Matthews WR 6-3 205 Jr. Vanderbilt
Morgan Moses OT 6-6 335 Jr. Virginia
Logan Thomas QB 6-6 262 Jr. Virginia Tech
James White RB 5-10 197 Jr. Wisconsin
Chris Borland LB 5-11 250 Jr. Wisconsin