Decision day for college underclassmen … The deadline for underclassmen to file paperwork with the NFL in order to be eligible to enter the 2021 draft comes up at 4 PM ET later this afternoon. However, most of the top names have already declared their intentions for this year’s draft. Indeed, about the only top prospect yet to be heard from is Ohio State junior QB Justin Fields, a projected top 5 candidate for April’s draft. In fact, by our unofficial count almost 130 juniors and redshirt sophomores have already applied to the league for this year’s draft. Once today’s deadline passes, those underclassmen who did apply will have a 72-hour window of opportunity to withdraw their applications as long as they haven’t signed with an agent or received any improper benefits. Then, once that period ends, the NFL will release an official list of underclassmen eligible for this year’s draft. And there are always a number of players on the list not previously known as there is no requirement that players applying for early admission actually make an announcement. As well, most of those new names tend to be very much fringe prospects without much hope of actually being drafted.
