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Head Start
THE NFL BEGAN allowing underclassmen to enter the draft in 1990, and since '95 an average of 45.9 players made themselves eligible. But after 2010, the number increased steadily until peaking in '14, when a record 98 underclassmen declared. Over that span the percentage of underclassmen to go undrafted has risen too, coming in at more than 30% in three of the last five years and hitting a high in '14 at 36.7%. This year's deadline to file for the draft is Jan. 18, and despite the decreasing odds of getting drafted, as of Monday, 82 hopefuls had decided to make the jump before their senior years.
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
Drafted in 1st round
Drafted in later rounds
Undrafted
74
18
32
29.0%
2015
98
16
46
36.7%
2014
73
14
39
27.4%
2013
65
19
25
32.3%
2012
56
14
24
32.1%
2011
53
17
27
17.0%
2010
PHOTO
JOE MURPHY/GETTY IMAGES (LYNCH)
Paxton Lynch
CHART
