Only 55 underclassmen enter 2025 NFL Draft, so far
Jan 17, 2025, 12:27 PM
With the San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders out of the NFL playoff picture, their focuses turn to the offseason. Las Vegas owns the sixth pick in the 2025 Draft, while San Francisco will be picking 11th.
Only 55 underclassmen are in the 2025 NFL Draft prospect pool, but that number could grow next week.
Pro prospects for Notre Dame and Ohio State are allowed to declare for the draft following the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday.
The total of 55 does not include players who are underclassmen in terms of eligibility but completed graduation requirements. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, viewed as a top-40 draft pick by Field Level Media, and Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon are included in the draft class as graduates and not considered underclassmen. A total of 15 prospects meet the description.
Colorado’s Travis Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner and a projected top-five pick in the draft, Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks and Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham are marquee prospects and headline underclassmen granted early eligibility confirmed by the NFL on Thursday.
Ohio State and Notre Dame players must inform the NFL of their decision to enter the draft by Jan. 24.
The total of 70 non-senior prospects is up from 60 in 2024, but down significantly from recent years.
A record 106 underclassmen entered the 2018 draft pool and there were 99 in 2019.
But there was a significant reduction because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The NCAA responded to shortened or forfeited seasons by granting all fall sports athletes an additional year of eligibility. Even players who were seniors in terms of eligibility did not expend their window to play college sports and had the option of returning to school to play the 2021 season.
In 2022, a total of 100 early entrees were announced at the deadline, which was Jan. 17. There were 73 underclassmen admitted by the NFL with 27 who fulfilled graduation requirements. In 2023, of 82 total prospects approved by the league; 69 players fell into the “special eligibility” or underclassmen category and 13 more were admitted as early graduates.
The complete list provided by the NFL:
- LeQuint Allen, RB, Syracuse
- Elic Ayomanor, WR, Stanford
- Kelvin Banks, OT, Texas
- Stone Blanton, LB, Mississippi State
- Jaydon Blue, RB, Texas
- Isaiah Bond, WR, Texas
- Luther Burden, WR, Missouri
- Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama
- Will Campbell, OT, LSU
- Abdul Carter, DE, Penn State
- Josh Conerly, OT, Oregon
- Nick Emmanwori, DB, South Carolina
- Trevor Etienne, RB, Georgia
- Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas
- Dylan Fairchild, OG, Georgia
- Harold Fannin, TE, Bowling Green
- D.J. Giddens, RB, Kansas State
- Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
- Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
- Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan
- Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
- Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
- Travis Hunter, DB, Colorado
- Jordan James, RB, Oregon
- Shemar James, LB, Florida
- Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
- Kaleb Johnson, RB, Iowa
- Will Johnson, DB, Michigan
- Emery Jones, OT, LSU
- Kobe King, LB, Penn State
- Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
- Damien Martinez, RB, Miami
- Marcus Mbow, OG, Purdue
- Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
- Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
- Walter Nolen, DT, Mississippi
- Jacob Parrish, DB, Kansas State
- Chris Paul, LB, Mississippi
- James Pearce, DE, Tennessee
- Jordan Phillips, DT, Maryland
- Dylan Sampson, RB, Tennessee
- Jonah Savaiinaea, OT, Arizona
- Carson Schwesinger, LB, UCLA
- Nic Scourton, DE, Texas A&M
- Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
- Malaki Starks, DB, Georgia
- Shemar Stewart, DE, Texas A&M
- Mason Taylor, TE, LSU
- Azareye’h Thomas, DB, Florida State
- Deone Walker, DT, Kentucky
- Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
- Cameron Williams, OT, Texas
- Mykel Williams, DE, Georgia
- Jared Wilson, C, Georgia
- Kevin Winston Jr., DB, Penn State
The following underclassmen officially notified the league office that they have fulfilled their degree requirements. Consequently, they are eligible for selection:
- Elijah Arroyo, TE, Miami
- Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama
- Joshua Farmer, DT, Florida State
- Thomas Fidone, TE, Nebraska
- Oronde Gadsden, TE, Syracuse
- Ollie Gordon, RB, Oklahoma State
- Mike Green, DE, Marshall
- Maxwell Hairston, DB, Kentucky
- Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, DT, Georgia
- Drew Kendall, C, Boston College
- Nick Martin, LB, Oklahoma State
- Tristan Michaud, WR, South Dakota
- Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama
- T.J. Sanders, DT, South Carolina
- Malik Verdon, DB, Iowa State
–Field Level Media
More NFL coverage on Sactown Sports
The San Francisco 49ers will head into an early offseason after missing the NFL Playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season.
During Friday’s edition of The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross, the guys were joined by Greg Papa, the radio voice of the 49ers, to lay out what San Francisco has to do to get back on track next year, look ahead to a big 2025 NFL Draft, and much more.
Be sure to check out the full interview with Greg Papa on the Sactown Sports 1140 YouTube page.
Read more:
Greg Papa thinks the 49ers need to ‘double down’ on their draft picks
Thank you for reading SactownSports.com. Follow us on Twitter and Google News, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.