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Tracking All the College Football Players Leaving Early for the NFL Draft

Tracking all the college football players leaving early for the 2020 NFL Draft

SI Staff

Tracking All the College Football Players Leaving Early for the NFL Draft
Tracking All the College Football Players Leaving Early for the NFL Draft /

Many notable players have announced their intent to forego any remaining NCAA eligibility to declare for the NFL draft. Whether the decision to leave was due to injury, as a precautionary measure or to simply have more time to prepare for their professional future, here are the top players to announce an early departure from their college teams:

Isaiah Simmons – Clemson, LB

Simmons led Clemson in tackles (102), tackles for a loss (16) and sacks (8) in 2019.

Tee Higgins – Clemson, WR

Higgins holds the all-time touchdown record for a Clemson receiver with 28. He caught 135 passes for 2,448 yards over his three-year career.

James Lynch – Baylor, DT

Lynch tallied 100 tackles–33 for loss–and 20 sacks during three seasons with the Bears.

Jerry Jeudy – Alabama, WR

Jeudy led the Crimson Tide with a team-high 77 catches for 1,163 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2019. As a sophomore, he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award, which is presented annually to the best wide receiver in the nation.

Henry Ruggs III – Alabama, WR

Ruggs finished his career with the Tide with 98 receptions, 1,716 yards and 24 touchdowns. He announced his decision to enter the NFL draft on Instagram but also wrote a touching letter on The Players' Tribune on how the Alabama community rallied around him while dealing with the death of his best friend Rod Scott.

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Tua Tagovailoa – Alabama, QB

Despite suffering a hip dislocation in the Crimson Tide's Nov. 16 win over Mississippi State and having surgery two weeks later, Tagovailoa is forgoing his senior season and entering the draft. This season, he tallied 2,840 yards with 33 touchdowns and three interceptions. The QB announced his decision at a press conference with head coach Nick Saban.

Quintez Cephus – Wisconsin, WR

Cephus finished his junior season with 901 receiving yards and seven touchdowns for the Badgers.

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Willie Gay Jr. – Mississippi State, LB

Gay finished his career in Starkville with 99 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, six sacks and three interceptions.

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Houston Miller – Texas Tech, DL

Miller tallied two tackles in two seasons with the Red Raiders.

Xavier McKinney — Alabama, S

McKinney, a junior and first-team All-SEC selection, led the Crimson Tide with 95 tackles. He also had three sacks, three interceptions, four forced fumbles and five pass breakups.

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Jedrick Wills Jr. – Alabama, OL

Wills, one of the best offensive lineman in the country, is projected to go in the first round of the draft.

Chase Young – Ohio State, DE

Young set Ohio State's single-season sacks record (16.5) in his standout junior season and was named a Heisman Trophy finalist. He established himself as one of the nation's most dominant defenders and took home the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award. Young ends his career with the Buckeyes with 98 tackles and 30.5 sacks.

Javelin Guidry – Utah, DB

Guidry will forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft. He finished his career with the Utes with 120 tackles and 3.5 for loss.

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Jonathan Taylor — Wisconsin, RB

Taylor enters the NFL draft having rushed more than 6,000 career yards in only three seasons. The Wisconsin star enters the draft having the sixth most yards in college football history. 

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D'Andre Swift — Georgia, RB 

Swift was one of college football's top running backs this past season and projects to be one of the first RBs taken in the draft. This season he was All-SEC First-Team (coaches), rushing for more than 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns.

Jeff Okudah – Ohio State, CB

Okudah, one of the top cornerbacks in college football this season, will forgo his senior year and enter the NFL draft. He had 35 total tackles, three interceptions and two forced fumbles in 2019. Along with his announcement on Twitter, he wrote a letter to his late mother on The Players' Tribune and shared how his coaches at Ohio State helped him deal with her death during his freshman year.

KJ Hamler – Penn State, WR

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Hamler will forgo his final two seasons and enter the NFL draft. He caught 56 passes for 904 yards and eight touchdowns with the Nittany Lions this season.

J.K. Dobbins — Ohio State, RB

Dobbins was one of the best running backs in the college football and is projected to be among the first backs taken in the 2020 NFL draft.

CeeDee Lamb — Oklahoma, WR

Lamb was one of the best wideouts in college football this season, earning first-team All-American recognition from the Walter Camp Foundation, FWAA, Associated Press and Sporting News.

Quartney Davis — Texas A&M, WR

Davis is skipped his senior season to the the NFL draft. He is a talented, big wideout who caught 54 passes for 616 yards and four touchdowns this season. 

Alohi Gilman — Notre Dame, S

Gilman was a team captain for the Irish in 2019. He started every game over the past two seasons and recorded 169 tackles, six tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, and three interceptions. 

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Jacob Eason – Washington, QB

Washington's redshirt junior quarterback is foregoing a fifth year and departs after a season in which he threw for 3,132 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Colby Parkinson – Stanford, TE

Parkinson had 48 catches for 589 yards and one touchdown this season. He finished his Stanford career with 87 catches for 1,171 yards and 12 TDs in 31 games.

Matt Hennessy — Temple, C

A first-team All-American Athletic Conference choice, Hennessy was a Rimington Trophy finalist, for best collegiate center, in his redshirt junior season.

Trishton Jackson — Syracuse, WR

Jackson was one of Syracuse's most explosives players last season, leading the Orange in catches (66), receiving yards (1,023) and receiving touchdowns (11) as a redshirt junior. His contributions helped him be a second-team All-ACC selection this past season.

Nick Coe – Auburn, DE

Coe will skip the Outback Bowl to enter the draft. He had 15 tackles and three for loss this season after seeing his playing time go down. Last year, Coe tallied 26 tackles–13.5 for loss–with seven sacks.

Andrew Thomas – Georgia, OT

Thomas–one of the best prospects in the country–will forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft. He will also skip the Bulldogs' Sugar Bowl matchup against Baylor on Jan. 1, 2020. Thomas ranks No. 5 on SI's NFL draft big board.

Isaiah Wilson – Georgia, OT

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Wilson announced his choice to forgo his senior season the same day as Thomas. He did not mention if he would play in the Sugar Bowl.

Amik Robertson – Louisiana Tech, CB

Robertson will skip the Independence Bowl vs. Miami after finishing with 60 tackles–eight for loss–this season.

David Woodward – Utah State, LB

Woodward suffered a season-ending injury on Oct. 19 but still led the Aggies with 93 tackles and four forced fumbles this year.

Cam Akers – Florida State, RB

Akers will forgo his senior season and skip the Sun Bowl to enter the NFL draft. His 586 career carries are the most in Florida State history. Akers finished 2019 with 231 carries for 1,144 yards and 14 TDs.

Mekhi Becton — Louisville, OT

Becton will forgo his senior season and skip the Music City Bowl. Becton was the winner of the 2019 Jacobs Blocking Award, given to the ACC's most outstanding blocker. He is projected to be a late first-round or second-round pick in the eyes of most NFL draft analysts. 

Justin Madubuike – Texas A&M, DT

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Madubuike will skip the Texas Bowl against Oklahoma State on Dec. 27 and enter the NFL draft. He had 11.5 tackles for loss this season with 45 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble, an interception and a blocked kick.

Eno Benjamin – Arizona State, RB

During his sophomore season, Benjamin broke Arizona State's single-season rushing record with 1,642 yards and 16 touchdowns. He went on to tally 1,083 yards and 10 TDs this season and has been named a first-team All-Pac-12 Conference selection both years. 

Isaiah Hodgins – Oregon State, WR

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Hodgins caught 86 passes for 1,171 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2019 as a junior. He ranks No. 2 in career touchdown receptions (20) at Oregon State.

Jordan Love – Utah State, QB

Love had a breakout sophomore year in 2018 when he threw for 3,567 yards with 32 TDs and six interceptions. As a junior, he had 3,085 yards with 17 touchdowns. He will play in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl against Kent State on Dec. 20

Jaylon Johnson – Utah, CB

Johnson finished 2019 with 36 tackles and two interceptions.

Jeff Thomas – Miami, WR

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Thomas had 31 catches for 379 yards and three touchdowns in 2019.

AJ Dillon – Boston College, RB

Dillon will forgo his senior season at Boston College to enter the NFL draft. He rushed for a career-best 1,685 yards with 14 TDs in 2019 and leaves as the Eagles' all-time leading rusher with 4,382 career yards. Dillon will skip the Birmingham Bowl against Cincinnati on Jan 2. 

Gabriel Davis – UCF, WR

UCF will lose its leading receiver with Davis declaring for the draft. He posted a career-best 72 receptions for 1,241 yards with 12 TDs in his junior season.

K.D. Nixon – Colorado, WR

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Nixon declared for the draft one week after his teammate Laviska Shenault announced his departure. During his junior year, Nixon had 35 catches for 475 yards and three TDs, ranking third on the team in each category.

Lynn Bowden Jr. – Kentucky, WR

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Bowden played as a receiver for most of his Kentucky career before moving to quarterback for five games this year after injuries hurt the Wildcats. His 1,235 rushing yards are third-best in the SEC. Bowden will play in the Belk Bowl against Virginia Tech on Dec. 31 before heading to the draft.

Josh Uche – Michigan, LB

Uche recorded a team-high 7 1/2 sacks for Michigan this year with 32 tackles. He will play against Alabama in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1.

Cameron Dantzler – Mississippi State, CB

Dantzler tallied five interceptions, 108 tackles and 20 passes defended in three seasons. He will miss the Music City Bowl against Louisville on Dec. 30

Kyle Markway – South Carolina, TE

Markway finished 2019 with a career-best 31 catches for 349 yards in his third season with the Gamecocks.

Kamren Curl – Arkansas, S

Curl will forgo his senior season to after finishing 2019 with 76 tackles–four for loss–and two interceptions.

Kylin Hill – Mississippi State, RB

Hill leads the SEC in rushing yards (1,347) and had 10 TDs this season. He plans to play in the Music City Bowl against Louisville on Dec. 30.

Hunter Bryant – Washington, TE

Bryant led the Huskies with 825 receiving yards on 52 catches this season.

Javon Leake – Maryland, RB

Leake was named the Big Ten return specialist of the year after running for 736 yards and averaging 7.2 yards per carry in 2019. He announced his decision to forgo his senior season one day after fellow running back Anthony McFarland Jr. also said he would enter the NFL draft.

Laviska Shenault – Colorado, WR

Shenault joins what is expected to be a deep class of receivers in this year's draft. He finished 2019 with 56 catches, 764 yards and four touchdowns for the Buffaloes. His breakout year came in 2018 when Shenault caught 86 passes for 1,011 yards and six touchdowns.

Anthony McFarland Jr. – Maryland, RB

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McFarland, a redshirt sophomore, will forgo his final two years of eligibility at Maryland to enter the draft. In 2019, he had 114 carries for 614 yards and eight touchdowns.

Trystan Castillo – Missouri, OT

Castillo is the third Tiger to announce his decision to enter the draft after the firing of coach Barry Odom. He had another year of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot-4 center was a 2017 SEC All-Freshman team member.

Jalen Reagor – WR, TCU

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The 5'11" speedster earned All-Big 12 honors in 2018 with 1,061 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, but Reagor's production dipped in 2019. His statistical struggles coincided with poor quarterback play for TCU as the Horned Frogs finished 5–7.

J.J. Taylor – RB, Arizona

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Taylor forfeited his senior season with the Wildcats after tallying 1,010 yards from scrimmage in 2019. The 5'6" running back is a receiving threat out of the backfield, finishing the season with 32 receptions. 

Yetur Gross-Matos – DE, Penn State

Gross-Matos will suit up for the Nittany Lions in their bowl game before leaving for the 2020 draft. He led Penn State with eight sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss in 2019. 

Albert Okwuegbunam – Missouri, TE

Okwuegbunam rebounded from shoulder surgery to return to the Tigers for one more season. As a redshirt freshman, he caught 11 touchdown passes before his production dropped to 43 catches for 466 yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore. He finished this season with 26 catches for 306 yards and six touchdowns, which are all career-lows.

Jordan Elliott – Missouri, DT

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The redshirt junior announced his plans just a day after Odom was fired as head coach. He led Missouri with 8.5 tackles for loss in 2019.

C.J. Henderson - Florida, CB

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Henderson led the team with 11 pass breakups, eight more than any other Gator, and tallied 33 tackles. He's projected by many draft analysts to be a first round pick and has decided to sit out Florida's upcoming bowl game.

This post will be updated as more players announce their intent to declare for the draft.

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