is they have a rule that says you can't have an agent so one would have to quit to the NCAA to even receive the advice. Mike Williams made the same mistake when a federal judge ruled the NFL had no legal right to bar Clarett from the draft, he hired an agent and got ready to be a top 10 pick. He was THE dominant receiver in NCAA.

He didn't anticipate the ruling to be overturned and had to sit a year. He still went top 10(#10 to be exact) but didn't turn out for the Lions. Injuries and plus he had a lot of competition at receiver - including Calvin Johnson - w/ bad quarterbacks throwing him the ball. I don't think the decision to leave early or even as a Sophomore had an effect except that he couldn't play or practice w/ USC during the year off he had.

He did have a good year for the Seahawks after being inactive for 3 years - he was unstoppable in a match-up against Arizona.

All that said, bad advice isn't why there are so many early entrants or so many early entrants going undrafted. There are several factors but the record number broke the record from last year which broke the record the year before. Ever since the Rookie Pay Scale agreed to by the NFL & Players' Union, the incentive to stay 1 more year to improve draft position (therefore pay) is gone replaced by the incentive to hurry up get in the NFL, get off the rookie contract, sign a big contract. Very simple. It also doesn't help the billion dollar revenue generating business offers little - tough road in college as well, especially if you're not a star. You can make more money in the AFL, CFL, and heck-even the practice squad (about $80,000).

Bad advice or misjudging your own talent or undervaluing the competition certainly plays into it. Many factors as well and the NFL draft is strange. There are players that you know going into the draft that even if they don't get drafted they'll absolutely get an opportunity. W/ me it's Arizona State players. I knew there was a good chance, for example, Brandon Magee(he was a 5-year Senior) wouldn't get drafted but he was the best defensive player on the team after Vontaze Burfict left early (who I'll get into in a minute) is a special teams contributor for the Browns which is another factor. If you're not showing enough to be a starter at the positions, you won't make it in the league unless you're good at special teams. Any advice should be, especially to undrafted players is, make your mark on special teams the opportunities will come if you can stay in the NFL. Terrell Davis as a 5th round selection introduced himself to the NFL w/ a monster hit on a 49ers returner in a preseason game at Tokyo. He was good at everything, aside from the running he was one of the best backs at blocking & receiving.

Vontaze Burfict is a curious case. Before he even played a game, Dennis Erickson said he is the best linebacker he's seen since Ray Lewis - who he coached. Received a lot of press because ASU managed to steal a big time linebacker recruit from USC(they won him over w/ their academic coach). Very first game (didn't start) he did this... (you can't miss him on this video)


Probably the most talented college linebacker I ever watched. Easily would have been a first rounder after his freshman or sophmore year. He had a down year his Junior year (wasn't even selected all-conference after two seasons on the All-American list) which was notable for his boneheaded personal fouls (12 in 10 games) which was an issue his whole college career. The next game after that hit in his game was on the road against Georgia, he made a game saving 4th & 1 tackle for a loss and on the last drive committed a senseless foul that kept Georgia's game winning possession alive. That was a weird game where future teammate AJ Green blocked a game winning kick and made an incredible catch to put them in field goal range.

He still chose to leave early and let me tell you I was absolutely shocked he was passed by in every round. I understood the red flags such as personal fouls (a lot of those were because he became a target of Pac-10 officials) but not one team didn't think he was worth the risk with even a late round pick? I later learned he did poorly at the combine recording the slowest 40-time among linebackers (did he look slow to you in that video?) and tested positive for THC. I still don't understand the draft though, the most talented linebacker in the draft went undrafted.

Anyways, Bengals took a chance on him and is now the leader of one of the best defenses in the NFL. Also lead the league in tackles w/ the 5th highest total all-time. Statistics from his rookie year showed that the Bengals averaged 2.4 yards per play w/ him on the field as well as recording tackles 15% of all plays.

An early entrant that left early after a frustrating losing season w/ so many red flags that went undrafted and at 23 is probably the most valuable defensive player in the league who will make big money once he can shake the rookie contract.

On edit - the article makes an excellent point about running backs whose value has decreased dramatically. So easy to replace running backs and can find many in later rounds like Alfred Morris w/ Washington.