NFL insider notebook: New NIL rules could impact flow of underclassmen turning pro, plus Week 2 picks
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Jonathan Jones' weekly look inside the NFL
Current underclassmen at schools across the country could look at this year's NFL Draft and see an opportunity for themselves. One hundred of the 128 underclassmen who declared got drafted. No NFL Draft before had seen more than 73 underclassmen be drafted, and nine of the top 10 drafted players were underclassmen.
But one year is not a trend, certainly not after such an anomalous 2020 pandemic-altering season. In fact, the biggest reason we're seeing such high-level college football these first few weeks seems to have plenty to do with the "super seniors" who got an extra year of eligibility, and there's optimism in NFL circles that this year could prove a turning point from the annual trend of dozens of underclassmen going undrafted.
That's what I've gathered after talking with agents, scouts and personnel executives around the league the last two weeks. A historic amount of players with degrees coupled with new NIL rules could lead to a needed sea change that will impact both college and pro football.
