NFL Draft Rules for Underclassmen

At one time, a college football player could hope to be selected in the NFL draft only if he had used up all four years of his college eligibility--that is, he was a "senior" athletically, if not academically--or if he graduated early. That changed in 1989. Legal challenges from college players, led by future Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, opened the door to underclassmen "coming out" for the draft. An interlocking set of NFL and NCAA rules governs the process.

  1. Eligibility

    • For a player to be eligible for the draft, at least three years must have passed since he graduated from high school, or--if he didn't actually graduate--since his high school class graduated. This is the only restriction, and it applies regardless of how much college football he played, or whether he played at all. In 2004, Ohio State freshman Maurice Clarett sued the NFL over the age limit. Federal courts eventually ruled against him, saying that since the restriction had been collectively bargained between the league and its players, it wasn't subject to judicial review.

    Declaring

    • NFL teams can't draft an underclassman unless he has declared himself eligible for the draft. Players wishing to enter the draft must submit to the league a signed and notarized petition renouncing all their remaining college eligibility. The deadline for declaring for the draft is Jan. 15. The draft is usually held in late April.

    Backing Out

    • The standard draft petition includes a clause allowing the player to revoke the petition within three days of the NFL's draft declaration date. That means a player has until Jan. 18 to back out and return to college football. The NCAA, which writes the rules for college football, allows college players to "test the waters" like this one time while they are in school. However, if a player makes any kind of agreement, oral or written, to be represented by a player agent, or accepts anything from an agent or anyone working for an agent, the NCAA will void all his remaining eligibility. When Clarett lost his court case in 2004 and was thus barred from the draft, he was unable to return to college football for this reason.

    Evaluation

    • Underclassmen considering entering the draft have the right to ask the league's College Advisory Committee for an assessment of their chances. The committee, made up of NFL talent evaluators and scouts, provides an estimate of when the player can expect to be taken in the seven-round draft. The assessment is not a promise or a guarantee that this is where he'll be drafted--or even that he'll be drafted at all. It's just a guess. Players have until early January to request an evaluation, although only those who do so by mid-December are guaranteed to get one.