2018 NFL Draft: 5 underclassman who should not have declared early

More than 100 players have declared for the NFL Draft with college eligibility still remaining. Here are the five most puzzling early declaration decisions.

There was a time when juniors leaving early for the NFL Draft was a somewhat rare occurrence. Times have changed. Now there are not only juniors making their way to the professional ranks, but redshirt sophomores headed to the NFL as well.

More than 100 players have forgone their remaining college eligibility for the 2018 NFL Draft. Many of those players are going to get drafted, some in the first few rounds for a considerable sum of money. That’s not going to be the case for everyone. 95 players chose to leave school early for the 2017 NFL Draft. 28 of them were not selected, leaving them to fight for roster spots as undrafted free agents.

The massive number of early entrants will give way to a similar story in 2018, making it fair to ask if all of these players are making the right decisions. For some the opportunity to raise their stock with one more good season outweighs their current draft prospects. For others they simply didn’t have enough status to begin with.

Here are five players that would have benefited the most from returning to school rather than declaring early for the 2018 NFL Draft.