96 underclassmen officially declare for 2016 NFL draft

Ninety-six players have officially filed for early-entry into the 2016 NFL draft.

Draft-eligible players must have met the NFL's three-year post-high school requirement and also submit an official letter of declaration to the NFL.

The league also said 11 players had left before their eligibility had expired but had completed the necessary coursework to graduate. The 96 players are two fewer than the record 98 players who declared early for the 2014 NFL draft. 74 players declared early for the draft in 2015.

A full list of the early entries is below. But before we get to it, here are some takeaways from the list.

• Who will be the top cornerback taken? Teams needing a corner early in the first round have some options. Clemson's Mackensie Alexander is a potential shutdown corner and Florida State's Jalen Ramsey has shown he can play multiple positions in the defensive backfield incredibly well. Virginia Tech's Kendall Fuller would be in this conversation too but his 2015 knee injury may slide him down teams' draft boards.

• Which injured linebacker goes first? Arizona LB Scooby Wright returned from multiple injuries for his team's bowl win over New Mexico. He'll be healthy enough to go through pre-draft workouts. Notre Dame's Jaylon Smith, however, won't be. He suffered a torn ACL against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. UCLA's Myles Jack also suffered a season-ending knee injury, though his came in September. He'll have a head start on recovery. Like the conerback class, the linebacking class looks pretty deep.

 

• Who's the next Antonio Brown? Brown, who went to Central Michigan, has become one of the best receivers in the NFL. Western Michigan's Daniel Braverman and Bowling Green's Roger Lewis will undoubtedly get Brown comparisons because of their MAC affiliations even if their skillsets aren't exact matches to Brown's. Braverman had 108 catches for 1,367 yards in 2015 and Lewis had 85 catches for 1,544 yards.

 

• It's a kicker party. Florida State's Roberto Aguayo will be selected at some point in the draft. But he's not the only kicker declaring early. British Columbia's Quinn van Gylswyk is going to the NFL as is Southern Oregon's Aldrick Rosas.

 

• If Joey Bosa is the first Ohio State player off the board, who is next? Nine Buckeyes declared early for the draft and all will likely get selected at some point in the seven rounds. RB Ezekiel Elliott is a good bet for a high pick based off his college production, but running backs are becoming rare first round picks. Would a team like the Cowboys consider him?

• Who is the top early-entry QB?

Workouts over the next couple months will likely give us an idea of how teams rank the QBs who are leaving school early. Will Cal's Jared Goff be the first QB drafted or will Penn State's Christian Hackenberg show that he can be a star without a leaky offensive line? Or will Memphis' Paxton Lynch emerge?

• Corey Coleman or Laquon Treadwell? The Baylor and Ole Miss wide receivers figure to be the first two early-entry WRs taken. But in which order? Treadwell became a star as he was fully recovered from the nasty broken leg he suffered in 2014. Coleman had eye-popping stats that declined as Baylor's quarterbacks went down with injuries one after another. Our guess is Treadwell goes first with Coleman not too far behind.

 

Here are the 11 players who are set to graduate and are leaving before their eligibility is up:

 

• K Roberto Aguayo, Florida State
• LB Travis Blanks, Clemson
• RB Zac Brooks, Clemson
• P Eric Enderson, Delaware
• DT Austin Johnson, Penn State
• RB Keith Marshall, Georgia
• S Tyvis Powell, Ohio State
• DE Noah Spence, Eastern Kentucky
• WR Michael Thomas, Ohio State
• DB Corey Tindal, Marshall
• DT Vincent Valentine, Nebraska

 

And below is the list of the 96 early entries:

• WR Bralon Addison, Oregon
• LB Dominique Alexander, Oklahoma
• CB Mackensie Alexander, Clemson
• DB Eli Apple, Ohio State
• WR Demarcus Ayers, Houston
• RB Peyton Barber, Auburn
• DB Vonn Bell, Ohio State
• OT Caleb Benenoch, UCLA
• DT Andrew Billings, UCLA
• OG Dariusz Bladek, Bethune-Cookman
• DE Joey Bosa, Ohio State
• WR Tyler Boyd, Pitt
• WR Daniel Braverman, Western Michigan
• LB Beniquez Brown, Mississippi State
• DB Artie Burns, Miami
• DT Kenny Clark, UCLA
• WR Corey Coleman, Baylor
• DB Trenton Coles, Duquesne
• RB Alex Collins, Arkansas
• DT Maliek Collins, Nebraska
• OT Jack Conklin, Michigan State
• WR Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina
• DE Kamalei Correa, Boise State
• LB Su’a Cravens, USC
• DT Elijah Daniel, Murray State
• LB Terrell Davis, British Columbia
• DE Kevin Dodd, Clemson
• WR Thomas Duarte, UCLA
• RB Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State
• LB Leonard Floyd, Georgia
• CB Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech
• WR Will Fuller, Notre Dame
• QB Jared Goff, Cal
• DB T.J. Green, Clemson
• TE David Grinnage, NC State
• QB Christian Hackenberg, Penn State
• CB Vernon Hargreaves, Florida
• OT Jerald Hawkins, LSU
• RB Derrick Henry, Alabama
• TE Hunter Henry, Arkansas
• DT Willie Henry, Michigan
• WR Rashard Higgins, Colorado State
• TE Austin Hooper, Stanford
• RB Jordan Howard, Indiana
• DB Xavien Howard, Baylor
• OT Germain Ifedi, Texas A&M
• LB Myles Jack, UCLA
• QB Cardale Jones, Ohio State
• WR Cayleb Jones, Arizona
• DT Chris Jones, Mississippi State
• S Jayron Kearse, Clemson
• OT Denver Kirkland, Arkansas
• DT Darius Latham, Indiana
• WR Kenny Lawler, Cal
• DE Shaq Lawson, Clemson
• LB Darron Lee, Ohio State
• WR Roger Lewis, Bowling Green
• LB Steve Longa, Rutgers
• QB Paxton Lynch, Memphis
• WR Jalin Marshall, Ohio State
• DE Alex McCalister, Florida
• LB Brett McMakin, Northern Iowa
• DB Keanu Neal, Florida
• DE Yannick Ngakoue, Maryland
• DE Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss
• WR Marquez North, Tennessee
• DE Emmanuel Ogbah, Oklahoma State
• RB Paul Perkins, UCLA
• DB Joe Powell, Globe
• RB C.J. Prosise, Notre Dame
• DB Jalen Ramsey, Florida State
• OG Alex Redmond, UCLA
• DT Hassan Ridgeway, Texas
• DT A’Shawn Robinson, Alabama
• WR Demarcus Robinson, Florida
• DB Rashard Robinson, LSU
• K Aldrick Rosas, Southern Oregon
• DB Zack Sanchez, Oklahoma
• G isaac Seumalo, Oregon State
• RB Wendell Smallwood, West Virginia
• LB Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame
• OT Tyrell Smith, Massachusetts
• OT Ronnie Stanley, Notre Dame
• RB Kelvin Taylor, Florida
• DE Ron Thompson, Syracuse
• WR Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss
• OT Laremy Tunsil, Ole Miss
• K Quinn van Gylswyk, British Columbia
• LB Nick Vigil, Utah State
• DB Cleveland Wallace, San Jose State
• RB Dwayne Washington, Washington
• LB Stephen Weatherly, Vanderbilt
• WR De’Runnya Wilson, Mississippi State
• DB Daryl Worley, West Virginia
• LB Scooby Wright, Arizona
• OT Avery Young, Arizona