NFL releases near record list of underclassmen in draft … The NFL has officially announced the names of 96 players who have been granted special eligibility for the 2016 draft, along with 11 players with remaining college football eligibility, but who have already fulfilled their degree requirements and are therefore also eligible for this year’s draft on April 28-30 in Chicago. The number of full underclassmen in this year’s draft is two short of the an all-time record of 98 in 2014. Strangely, that number dropped off to just 74 last year, while there were 73 in the 2013 draft, 65 in 2012, 56 in 2011, 53 in 2010, 46 in 2009, 53 in 2008, 40 in 2007 and 52 in 2006. Among players who showed up on the list released by the NFL who were not on previously published lists include OG Dariusz Bladek of Bethune-Cookman, Duquesne DB Trent Coles, Murray State DT Elijah Daniel, and kickers Aldrich Rosas of Southern Oregon and Quinn van Glyswyk of UBC in Canada. At the same time, several players who had declared their intention to enter the draft do not show up on the official NFL list including Auburn OT Shon Coleman, Oregon RB/WR Byron Marshall, Arkansas RB Jonathan Williams, Notre Dame CB Keivarae Russell, Kansas State FB Glenn Gronkowski and Montana WR Ellis Henserson, mostly because they have been out of high school long enough that they do not need special permission to enter the draft, although they also have eligibility remaining.
