Five local underclassmen entering 2018 NFL Draft

A record 106 underclassmen will be entering the 2018 NFL Draft. That includes five players from the Kansas City local area schools. Here is how they stack up.

The 2018 NFL Draft is going to see the largest number of declared underclassmen in history. That number will include five players from our local schools, trying to get a head start on their NFL careers. With such a large number of underclassmen to compete with, we’ll take a look at the decisions of each one of these local guys.

It wasn’t an overly impressive year for Kansas City area colleges, with none of the teams making much noise in their respective conferences. In fact, the Kansas Jayhawks set a school record for futility over a three year stretch. However, the failings of a team don’t always dictate what an individual player should do.

Of course, most players who declare early for the NFL Draft are those that have exhibited the most talent. They are generally players who figure to be locks for the NFL, and so they have nothing left to prove by staying in college for another year. That’s not the only reason players choose to leave though.

Coaching changes, new roster competition, fear of injury, and sometimes just flat out bad decision-making all come into play here. Unfortunately, most underclassmen that declare early for the NFL Draft won’t hear their names called on draft weekend. The fortunate ones of that group will at least get a tryout. The rest will start looking for apartments in Canada.

So how do our local prospects look to fare this year?