No easy solution to the problem of early NFL draft entrants

By Kevin Causey

The NFL Draft is supposed to be a celebratory event. It’s about young men who are realizing their dream to play in the National Football League. However, what about the players who have their dreams shattered?

Eighty-four (84) players declared early for the NFL Draft. The first two days were a boon for many of them, as 43 were selected in the first three rounds. That left 41 undrafted players from this subgroup. Only 17 of these players were picked up in rounds four through seven, leaving 24 early entries undrafted when all seven rounds were over.

Texas A&M’s Trey Williams ran for 560 yards and 7 TDs in 2014 while adding 16 receptions. Now he will have the unenviable task of trying to make the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent. Would he have benefited from another year in Kevin Sumlin’s system working on his strength and getting in reps as a slot receiver to add value?

Deontay Greenberry of Houston had 72 receptions in 2014. With Ohio State assistant Tom Herman taking over the program, it might have been in his best interest to get another year to fine-tune his route running and become more reliable. Instead, he entered the draft and now will try to make the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent.

TCU running back B.J. Catalon and free safety Chris Hackett both left school early with NFL dreams in their eyes. Both will will now try to make a team after not being selected in the draft.

NFL.com does scouting profiles for many of the players who are eligible for the draft. They had Williams as a sixth- or seventh-round pick; Greenberry as a sixth- or seventh-round pick; Catalon as a UFA (undrafted free agent); and Hackett as a seventh-rounder or UFA. These are just writers’ or scouts’ opinions, but I wonder how early they were offered and if this information was given to these players. Would the players in question still have turned pro if they had feedback this specific given to them (and how specific is the information that is provided to them)?

A total of 20 other players face the same challenge as Williams, Greenberry, Catalon and Hackett. Surprisingly, this number is lower than last year, as 36 early entrants went undrafted in 2014.

In addition to the players that went undrafted, many slid down in the draft, potentially losing them a lot of money in the process.

UCLA star quarterback Brett Hundley was waiting to be picked until the fifth round. He landed in a good spot with Green Bay, but what if he would have waited until next year to come out? What if he stayed in school and refined his skills for another year?

The ultra-talented Stefon Diggs wasn’t picked until the fifth round by the Minnesota Vikings. Injuries made his situation even more cloudy. Would he have benefited from another year in college to prove his durability, or would he have potentially made it worse with another injury?

Nebraska’s Randy Gregory was talked about as a top-ten pick just weeks before the draft. A failed drug test and “character issues” saw him drop all the way out of the first round. Would an extra year of maturity have helped him if he would have been allowed to rescind his early entry?

There is a second side to every coin, and you could argue the opposite for former USC star quarterback Matt Barkley. He was thought of as one of the top draft picks but decided to stay in school an extra year. He was then picked in the fourth round after a disappointing senior campaign a few years ago. Barkley is in the NFL, but after two seasons he’s thrown just 50 passes.

Despite putting some new processes in place this offseason after a record number of players declared early for the draft in 2014, the problem still remains. There isn’t an easy fix. Players go pro for a number of different factors and reasons.

The NFL and college football are not the only sports with this problem. Nearly one-third of the early entrants in the 2014 NBA Draft — 15 of 44 — went undrafted. One thing the NBA does differently is that it allows players to go through pre-draft camps and individual workouts and then (provided they haven’t signed with an agent) pull out of the draft if they want to.

What if the NFL adopted something similar to this? The NFL Combine is a huge deal for the league and the football world. Would allowing players to declare, but keep the option of withdrawing based on how they do in their workouts, become a success in the NFL?

The NFL is now doing Veteran Combines, so why not do a combine just for early entrants and give the players a 10-day window to opt out of the NFL draft? They could go back to school afterwards based on their performance, evaluations and feedback.

It could actually have the opposite effect, with players declaring just to see what their stock is. Should there be reform in the early entrant rules, or should it just be chalked up to another, albeit huge, life lesson for these young players?

After the record-setting numbers of early entrants in 2014, it’s clear that some potential draftees did learn a lesson, but the pull of the NFL — of fame, of money, of the lifestyle — is just too much for some of these young and impressionable talents.

The 2015 NFL Draft should serve as a cautionary tale for potential draft picks, but until something changes in the system, we are likely to continue down the same path.

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