League officially announces 53 underclassmen in NFL Draft

by Dan Kadar on Jan 19, 2010 12:39 PM EST in 2010 NFL Draft

After the jump you can find the official release from the NFL. It's sort of funny that everyone figured more underclassmen than usual would enter the draft. Here's a chart from the press release:

The players granted special eligibility for the NFL Draft the past 10 years:

Year	Players Granted Special Eligibility	Year	Players Granted Special Eligibility
2010	53	2005	51
2009	46	2004	43
2008	53	2003	47
2007	40	2002	38
2006	52	2001	35

The National Football League announced today the names of 53 players who have been granted special eligibility for the 2010 NFL Draft on April 22-24.

The NFL Draft will start in primetime for the first time in 2010. The first round will be held on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 PM ET. The second and third rounds are set for Friday, April 23 at 6:30 PM ET. Rounds 4-7 will be held on Saturday, April 24 at 10:00 AM ET. The entire NFL Draft will be televised by NFL Network and ESPN.

Each of the 53 players has met the league’s three-year eligibility rule and each has submitted a written application in which he renounced his remaining college football eligibility. The deadline for receiving applications was January 15.

The 53 players this year match the total number that was granted special eligibility in 2008. Last year, special eligibility was granted to 46 players.

The players declared eligible are:

Player	Pos.	College
Basped, Kevin	DE	Nevada
Benn, Arrelious	WR	Illinois
Berry, Eric	DB	Tennessee
Best, Jahvid	RB	California
Bowman, Navorro	LB	Penn State
Bradford, Sam	QB	Oklahoma
Briscoe, Dezmon	WR	Kansas
Brown, Antonio	WR	Central Michigan
Bryant, Dez	WR	Oklahoma State
Bulaga, Bryan	T	Iowa
Burnett, Morgan	DB	Georgia Tech
Campbell, Bruce	T	Maryland
Clausen, Jimmy	QB	Notre Dame
Curran, Rennie	LB	Georgia
Davis, Anthony	T	Rutgers
Dunlap, Carlos	DE	Florida
Dwyer, Jonathan	RB	Georgia Tech
Franks, Dominique	DB	Oklahoma
Geathers, Clifton	DE	South Carolina
Gibson, Thaddeus	DE	Ohio State
Gresham, Jermaine	TE	Oklahoma
Griffen, Everson	DE	Southern California
Gronkowski, Rob	TE	Arizona
Haden, Joe	DB	Florida
Hernandez, Aaron	TE	Florida
Jackson, Kareem	DB	Alabama
Jones, Chad	DB	Louisiana State
Jones, Reshad	DB	Georgia
Joseph, Linval	DT	East Carolina
Marshall, Darius	RB	Marshall
Mathews, Ryan	RB	Fresno State
McClain, Rolando	LB	Alabama
McCoy, Gerald	DT	Oklahoma
McKnight, Joe	RB	Southern California
McNeal, Shawnbrey	RB	Southern Methodist
Mitchell, Carlton	WR	South Florida
Moore, Joshua	DB	Kansas State
Morgan, Derrick	DE	Georgia Tech
Norton, Jerell	DB	Arkansas
Pierre-Paul, Jason	DE	South Florida
Pouncey, Maurkice	C	Florida
Price, Brian	DT	UCLA
Rogan, Dennis	DB	Tennessee
Snead, Jevan	QB	Mississippi
Spievey, Amari	DB	Iowa
Tate, Golden	WR	Notre Dame
Thomas, Demaryius	WR	Georgia Tech
Thomas, Earl	DB	Texas
Warren, Donovan	DB	Michigan
Williams, Damian	WR	Southern California
Williams, Mike	WR	Syracuse
Worilds, Jason	DE	Virginia Tech
Wright, Major	DB	Florida

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Comments

Count me as one

Whom thought there would be a record number of UC this year. I guess the Rookie pay scale wasn’t as important as each individuals situation. I guess there’s something eerily right about that.

by dbcouver on Jan 19, 2010 1:49 PM EST reply actions

I thought more Juniors would come out this year.

I guess at some point the market is getting oversaturated and players will get pushed farther down the draft, so it makes sense for them to stay.

But I agree with dbc, their personal situation is still more important than market forces.

by NorthLeft12 on Jan 19, 2010 2:28 PM EST reply actions

53 does tie the record...

There were a few surprises of players returning to school, but that’s still a pretty big class.

by invisibulman on Jan 19, 2010 2:45 PM EST reply actions

I wonder what the rookies scale is gonna actually limit salaries to.

cuz outside of the top 10-15 picks…the salaries are fairly reasonable.

Maybe that had something to do with it not being as many as people thought?

It really would only matter if your guaranteed in those spots.

Tho…players like Mallet and even Cameron Heyward and Aidrian Clayborne…makes you wonder cuz they could’ve been top 10-15 picks.

It gets late real early out here....

by FreeBradshaw on Jan 19, 2010 4:23 PM EST reply actions

I'm so glad Clayborn staying is official

I’ve had doubts ever since he dominated in the orange bowl.

Breakdown of Clayborn in the Orange Bowl

Luck is probability taken personally, clutch is probability attributed to individuals.

It's shocking how much can slip your perception

Even your eyes lie

by shake n bake on Jan 19, 2010 6:41 PM EST up reply actions

lol

For every woman masturbating right now, there is a guy masturbating while imagining that woman masturbate.

2009 NY Phin PhansFantasy League Champion
2009 Best Regular Season Record in NYPPL.

by Patssuck456 on Jan 19, 2010 10:31 PM EST up reply actions

I don't think the surprise had to do with how many UC came out

versus which talented ones came out, especially given injuries (Bradford, Gresham, Gronkowski) and players who didn’t perform to standard (Snead, Mike Williams). Were the CBA not looming over all of this, I think some of those guys would have returned for a senior year.

You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.

by 3k on Jan 19, 2010 8:14 PM EST reply actions