List of 2012 NFL draft early entrants

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This list of 2012 NFL draft early entrants consists of college football players who were juniors or redshirt sophomores and were declared eligible to be selected in the 2012 NFL draft. A college football player who completed high school at least three years prior can renounce his remaining NCAA eligibility and enter the draft. Players who met these requirements had until January 15, 2012, to declare their intention to forgo their remaining collegiate eligibility. [1]

Contents

A total of 65 underclassmen were granted eligibility for the 2012 draft, eclipsing the previous record from 2011 of 56. [2] In addition to these underclassmen, at least three players who were considered seniors opted not to pursue an additional season of college eligibility for which they may have been eligible. [3] [4]

Complete list of players

The following players were granted special eligibility to enter the 2012 draft: [5]

NamePositionSchoolDrafted byDraft pos.
Alvester Alexander RB Wyoming ——
Dwayne Allen DT Clemson Indianapolis Colts 64
Edwin Baker RB Michigan State San Diego 250
Mike Ball WR Nevada ——
Jamison Berryhill RB Texas ——
Justin Blackmon [6] WR Oklahoma State Jacksonville 5
Michael Brockers [a] [7] DT LSU St. Louis 14
Bryce Brown RB Kansas State Philadelphia 229
Vontaze Burfict [8] LB Arizona State ——
Orson Charles [9] TE Georgia Cincinnati 116
Morris Claiborne [10] CB LSU Dallas 6
Fletcher Cox [11] DT Mississippi State Philadelphia 12
David DeCastro [12] G Stanford Pittsburgh 24
Tiree Eure TE Minnesota ——
Marcus Forston [13] DT Miami ——
Stephon Gilmore [14] CB South Carolina Buffalo 10
Chris Givens WR Wake Forest St. Louis 96
Dorian Graham WR Syracuse ——
Robert Griffin III QB Baylor Washington 2
Jewel Hampton RB Southern Illinois ——
Cliff Harris CB Oregon ——
Dont'a Hightower LB Alabama New England 25
Stephen Hill [15] WR Georgia Tech NY Jets 43
Ronnie Hillman [a] [16] RB San Diego State Denver 67
Max Holloway DE Boston College ——
Jayron Hosley [17] CB Virginia Tech NY Giants 94
Janzen Jackson S McNeese State ——
LaMichael James [18] RB Oregon San Francisco 61
Alshon Jeffery [19] WR South Carolina Chicago 45
Aldarius Johnson WR Miami ——
Damaris Johnson WR Tulsa ——
Chandler Jones [20] DE Syracuse New England 21
Matt Kalil [21] OT USC Minnesota 4
Dre Kirkpatrick [22] CB Alabama Cincinnati Bengals 17
Peter Konz C Wisconsin Atlanta 55
Luke Kuechly [23] LB Boston College Carolina 9
Ronnell Lewis LB Oklahoma Detroit 125
Andrew Luck [24] QB Stanford Indianapolis 1
Terrell Manning [25] LB NC State Green Bay 163
Jonathan Martin [26] OT Stanford Miami 42
Bobby Massie [27] OT Ole Miss Arizona 112
Whitney Mercilus [28] DE Illinois Houston 26
Lamar Miller [a] [29] RB Miami Miami 97
Brock Osweiler [30] QB Arizona State Denver 57
Eric Page [31] WR Toledo ——
Donte Paige-Moss DE North Carolina ——
Nick Perry [32] DE USC Green Bay 28
Bernard Pierce [33] RB Temple Baltimore 84
Ken Plue G Purdue ——
Dontari Poe [34] DT Memphis Kansas City 11
Chris Polk [b] RB Washington ——
Rueben Randle [35] WR LSU NY Giants 63
Riley Reiff [36] OT Iowa Detroit 23
Trent Richardson [22] RB Alabama Cleveland 3
Josh Robinson [37] CB UCF Minnesota 66
Mohamed Sanu [38] WR Rutgers Cincinnati Bengals 83
Darrell Scott [39] RB USF ——
Tommy Streeter WR Miami Baltimore 198
Darron Thomas [40] QB Oregon ——
Johnny Thomas S Oklahoma State ——
Phillip Thomas S Syracuse ——
Barrett Trotter QB Auburn ——
Robert Turbin [b] [41] RB Utah State Seattle 106
Kenny Turner [b] [4] RB New Mexico State ——
Olivier Vernon [42] DE Miami Miami 72
Brandon Washington [42] G Miami Philadelphia 200
David Wilson [43] RB Virginia Tech NY Giants 32
Jerel Worthy [44] DT Michigan State Green Bay 51
Notes

a This player is a third-year sophomore. [3]
b This player in not technically an underclassman, but he has opted to forego an additional season of college eligibility. [3]

Number of players granted special eligibility by year

Undergraduates admitted to the NFL draft each year: [5]

YearNumber
201265
2011 56
2010 53
2009 46
2008 53
2007 40
2006 52
2005 51
2004 43
2003 47

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References

  1. ↑ Smith, Michael David (January 3, 2012). "Vontaze Burfict, Fletcher Cox among NFL draft entries". Profootballtalk.com . Archived from the original on January 4, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  2. ↑ Kirk, Jason (January 19, 2012). "NFL Draft 2012: Full Early Entrants List Released, Featuring 65 Players". SB Nation . Archived from the original on July 30, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Official underclassmen declaration list". Pro Football Weekly . January 19, 2012. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  4. 1 2 Taylor, John (January 20, 2012). "From prison to the draft: leading rusher leaving NMSU for NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "65 Players Granted Special Eligibility for 2012 NFL Draft". National Football League . January 19, 2012. Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Blackmon: 'Time to go,' apply for entry into 2012 NFL Draft". NFL.com . December 7, 2011. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ Taylor, John (January 12, 2012). "Update: LSU's Claiborne, Brockers leaving early for the NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Vontaze Burfict enters NFL draft". ESPN. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  9. ↑ Taylor, John (January 11, 2012). "Orson Charles leaving UGA for the NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  10. ↑ "People familiar with decision: LSU CB Morris Claiborne will leave for NFL". Washington Post. January 12, 2012. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Mississippi State Defensive Tackle Declares for N.F.L. Draft". The New York Times. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  12. ↑ Kercheval, Ben (January 4, 2012). "Pair of Stanford linemen also declaring for the draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  13. ↑ Harper, Derek (December 5, 2011). "'Canes WR Streeter takes leap of NFL faith". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  14. ↑ Taylor, John (January 9, 2012). "Gilmore to join teammate Jeffery in NFL draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  15. ↑ Taylor, John (January 5, 2012). "Georgia Tech loses WR Stephen Hill to the NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  16. ↑ Taylor, John (January 4, 2012). "Aztecs lose Ronnie Hillman to NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  17. ↑ Taylor, John (January 4, 2012). "Hosley leaving Hokies early to make draft leap". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  18. ↑ "LaMichael James will declare for draft". ESPN. December 14, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  19. ↑ Taylor, John (January 5, 2012). "Alshon Jeffrey confirms the expected jump to NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  20. ↑ Taylor, John (December 30, 2011). "Syracuse DE Chandler Jones latest to make NFL leap". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Matt Kalil to enter draft". ESPN. December 15, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  22. 1 2 "Alabama's Trent Richardson and Dre Kirkpatrick to enter NFL draft". USA Today . January 12, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  23. ↑ Taylor, John (January 6, 2012). "Kuechly bolts BC for the NFL draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Stanford's Andrew Luck confirms plan to enter NFL Draft". USA Today. USAToday. December 6, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  25. ↑ Taylor, John (January 3, 2012). "NCSU's Manning bolting for NFL as well". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Jonathan Martin to enter NFL draft". ESPN. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  27. ↑ Taylor, John (January 7, 2012). "Ole Miss' Massie makes move to the NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Illinois' Whitney Mercilus to enter draft". ESPN. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  29. ↑ Dinich, Heather (December 12, 2011). "Lamar Miller to enter draft". ESPN. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  30. ↑ Kercheval, Ben (January 6, 2012). "It's official: Brock Osweiler declares for the NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  31. ↑ Taylor, John (January 12, 2012). "Turning the Page: Toledo WR headed to the draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  32. ↑ Taylor, John (December 18, 2011). "USC's Nick Perry makes early NFL leap official". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  33. ↑ Taylor, John (January 6, 2012). "Temple's Bernard Pierce taking his game to the NFL, too". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  34. ↑ Taylor, John (December 23, 2011). "Memphis defensive tackle off to the NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  35. ↑ Taylor, John (January 12, 2012). "LSU reportedly loses Rueben Randle to NFL, too". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  36. ↑ Taylor, John (January 3, 2012). "Riley Reiff leaving Iowa early for the draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  37. ↑ Taylor, John (January 8, 2012). "UCF corner Josh Robinson answers the NFL call". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  38. ↑ "Mohamed Sanu entering NFL draft". ESPN. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  39. ↑ "USF RB Darrell Scott leaving for the NFL Draft". cbssports.com. CBS Sports. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  40. ↑ "Oregon QB Darron Thomas to enter NFL draft". USA Today. January 15, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  41. ↑ Taylor, John (December 24, 2011). "Utah State RB takes to Twitter to announce NFL decision". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  42. 1 2 Taylor, John (December 16, 2011). "Two more 'Canes leaving early for the NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  43. ↑ Taylor, John (January 6, 2012). "David Wilson leaving Hokies for the NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  44. ↑ Taylor, John (January 5, 2012). "Jerel Worthy says goodbye Spartans, hello NFL". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
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