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A few underclassmen from the SEC might be rethinking their decisions to forego their senior seasons after not being selected in the NFL Draft.
Five early-entrants from the SEC did not get picked this weekend:
- RB Peyton Barber, Auburn (signed with Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
- OL Denver Kirkland, Arkansas (signed with Oakland Raiders)
- LB Beniquez Brown, Mississippi State (signed with Green Bay Packers)
- OL Avery Young, Auburn (signed with New Orleans Saints)
- WR Marquez North, Tennessee (signed with Los Angeles Rams)
It’s encouraging for all five players that they will get an opportunity at the next level, but as we covered in a recent feature, the odds are against undrafted early entrants playing in an NFL game.
A breakdown of the numbers from Saturday Down South’s recent feature, focusing on the 25 undrafted early entrants from 2010-2015:
Of the 25 who went undrafted, only nine have played in NFL games. Only four – Florida’s Will Hill with the Baltimore Ravens, Arkansas’ Alvin Bailey with the Seattle Seahawks, LSU’s Brad Wing with the New York Giants and Florida’s Marcus Roberson with the Los Angeles Rams – would be classified as players who have had successful NFL careers.
Will the above free-agent signees be able to buck that trend? Only time will tell.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.