NFL Draft Takes Most Early Talent from LSU, Bama

While college seniors prepare for graduation in the coming weeks, the following student-athletes chose to instead enter this week’s NFL draft before their senior year of college football. We took a look at the teams hurt the most by talented players leaving early.

We calculated 25 points for losing a player who would be one of the first few picks, all the way down to 2 points for a player who left early but might not even be drafted. Admittedly I go into more detail on the student-athletes leaving early for the NBA draft and the projections for all remaining players and their teams (click here), but the NHL, baseball and NBA drafts are not until June so here is the focus on this week’s NFL draft.

The hardest hit team was LSU, which loses running back Derrius Guice (23 of 25 possible points), defensive backs Donte Jackson and Kevin Toliver (20 and 19), linebacker Arden Key (18), center Will Clapp (C) and then some minor players in Toby Weathersby and Travonte Valentine (tackle and nose tackle both worth two points). All together, that tallies 100 points even.

We list LSU’s players first on the table below, and then we list the rest of the teams who lost someone early to the draft in alphabetical order. This worked out nicely because Alabama appears first alphabetically and happens to also be the second hardest hit with 87 points lost between five players.

However, you will have to scroll down alphabetically to see the next three hardest hit in Texas, Stanford and Ohio State. I will actually be on Ohio State’s campus for graduation weekend due to working on a redistricting ballot measure in the state for www.takeback.org – which has more student signups there than on any other campus. We will keep updates coming at www.pudnersports.com.

Team	Players lost to draft before senior year	Value	Pos
LSU	1 rank, LSU lost 7 early entrees	100	Team 1
LSU	Derrius Guice	23	RB
LSU	Donte Jackson	20	DB
LSU	Kevin Toliver	19	DB
LSU	Arden Key	18	LB
LSU	Will Clapp	17	C
LSU	Toby Weathersby	2	T
LSU	Travonte Valentine	2	NT
Alabama	2 rank, Alabama lost 5 early entrees	87	Team 2
Alabama	Minkah Fitzpatrick	24	DB
Alabama	Calvin Ridley	24	WR
Alabama	Ronnie Harrison	21	DB
Alabama	Bo Scarbrough	16	RB
Alabama	Da’Ron Payne	2	NT
Arizona St.	36 rank, Arizona State lost 3 early entrees	18	Team 36
Arizona St.	Christian Sam	15	LB
Arizona St.	JoJo Wicker	2	DT
Arizona St.	Sam Jones	2	G
Auburn	8 rank, Auburn lost 4 early entrees	58	Team 8
Auburn	Carlton Davis	22	DB
Auburn	Kerryon Johnson	21	RB
Auburn	Jeff Holland	12	LB
Auburn	Kamryn Pettway	2	RB
Benedictine	47 rank, Benedictine lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 47
Benedictine	Matt Fleming	2	WR
Boise St.	27 rank, Boise State lost 1 early entrees	23	Team 27
Boise St.	Leighton Vander Esch	23	LB
Clemson	29 rank, Clemson lost 4 early entrees	22	Team 29
Clemson	Deon Cain	10	WR
Clemson	Taylor Hearn	8	G
Clemson	Ray-Ray McCloud	2	WR
Clemson	Van Smith	2	DB
Colorado	28 rank, Colorado lost 1 early entrees	23	Team 28
Colorado	Isaiah Oliver	23	DB
Florida	14 rank, Florida lost 3 early entrees	43	Team 14
Florida	Taven Bryan	22	DT
Florida	Antonio Callaway	19	WR
Florida	Eddy Pineiro	2	K
Florida St.	18 rank, Florida State lost 4 early entrees	32	Team 18
Florida St.	Tarvarus McFadden	14	DB
Florida St.	Josh Sweat	14	DE
Florida St.	Auden Tate	2	WR
Florida St.	Jalen Wilkerson	2	DE
FSU	21 rank, FSU lost 2 early entrees	27	Team 21
FSU	Derwin James	25	DB
FSU	Ryan Izzo	2	TE
Georgia	15 rank, Georgia lost 2 early entrees	42	Team 15
Georgia	Roquan Smith	25	LB
Georgia	Trenton Thompson	17	DT
Houston	41 rank, Houston lost 1 early entrees	13	Team 41
Houston	Kyle Allen	13	QB
Indiana	42 rank, Indiana lost 1 early entrees	13	Team 42
Indiana	Simmie Cobbs	13	WR
Iowa	12 rank, Iowa lost 2 early entrees	48	Team 12
Iowa	James Daniels	24	C
Iowa	Josh Jackson	24	DB
Kansas	35 rank, Kansas lost 1 early entrees	18	Team 35
Kansas	Dorance Armstrong	18	DE
Kansas St.	43 rank, Kansas State lost 2 early entrees	11	Team 43
Kansas St.	Byron Pringle	10	WR
Kansas St.	DJ Reed	2	DB
Louisiana-Monroe	48 rank, Louisiana-Monroe lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 48
Louisiana-Monroe	JJ Dallas	2	DB
Louisville	6 rank, Louisville lost 3 early entrees	65	Team 6
Louisville	Lamar Jackson	25	QB
Louisville	Jaire Alexander	24	DB
Louisville	Geron Christian	16	T
Marshall	39 rank, Marshall lost 1 early entrees	15	Team 39
Marshall	Chase Litton	15	QB
Maryland	17 rank, Maryland lost 2 early entrees	35	Team 17
Maryland	DJ Moore	23	WR
Maryland	JC Jackson	12	DB
Miami	16 rank, Miami lost 4 early entrees	38	Team 16
Miami	RJ McIntosh	18	DT
Miami	Kendrick Norton	10	DT
Miami	Mark Walton	9	RB
Miami	Courtel Jenkins	2	DT
Middle Tennessee	46 rank, Middle Tennessee lost 1 early entrees	5	Team 46
Middle Tennessee	Richie James	5	WR
NC St.	19 rank, NC State lost 2 early entrees	32	Team 19
NC St.	Will Richardson	16	T
NC St.	Nyheim Hines	16	RB
Nebraska	40 rank, Nebraska lost 2 early entrees	14	Team 40
Nebraska	Tanner Lee	9	QB
Nebraska	Nick Gates	6	T
Nevada	49 rank, Nevada lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 49
Nevada	Vosean Crumbie	2	DB
Notre Dame	10 rank, Notre Dame lost 3 early entrees	56	Team 10
Notre Dame	Quenton Nelson	25	G
Notre Dame	Josh Adams	16	RB
Notre Dame	Equanimeous St Brown	15	WR
Ohio St.	5 rank, Ohio State lost 3 early entrees	65	Team 5
Ohio St.	Denzel Ward	25	DB
Ohio St.	Sam Hubbard	21	DE
Ohio St.	Jerome Baker	19	LB
Oklahoma	13 rank, Oklahoma lost 4 early entrees	47	Team 13
Oklahoma	Mark Andrews	22	TE
Oklahoma	Orlando Brown	21	T
Oklahoma	Du’Vonta Lampkin	2	DT
Oklahoma	Dwayne Orso-Bacchus	2	T
Ole Miss	38 rank, Ole Miss lost 1 early entrees	16	Team 38
Ole Miss	Breeland Speaks	16	DE
Oregon St.	45 rank, Oregon State lost 1 early entrees	10	Team 45
Oregon St.	Ryan Nall	10	RB
Penn St.	22 rank, Penn State lost 1 early entrees	25	Team 22
Penn St.	Saquon Barkley	25	RB
Pittsburg St.	50 rank, Pittsburg State lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 50
Pittsburg St.	Juante Baldwin	2	DB
Pittsburgh	24 rank, Pittsburgh lost 3 early entrees	25	Team 24
Pittsburgh	Brian O’Neill	22	T
Pittsburgh	Jordan Whitehead	2	DB
Pittsburgh	Quadree Henderson	2	WR
Purdue	51 rank, Purdue lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 51
Purdue	Eddy Wilson	2	DT
San Jose St.	52 rank, San Jose State lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 52
San Jose St.	Frank Ginda	2	LB
SMU	20 rank, SMU lost 2 early entrees	31	Team 20
SMU	Courtland Sutton	24	WR
SMU	Trey Quinn	7	WR
South Carolina	26 rank, South Carolina lost 1 early entrees	23	Team 26
South Carolina	Hayden Hurst	23	TE
Southeastern Louisiana	53 rank, Southeastern Louisiana lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 53
Southeastern Louisiana	Maea Teuhema	2	T
Southern Miss	54 rank, Southern Miss lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 54
Southern Miss	Korey Robertson	2	WR
Stanford	4 rank, Stanford lost 4 early entrees	70	Team 4
Stanford	Harrison Phillips	21	DT
Stanford	Justin Reid	18	DB
Stanford	Dalton Schultz	17	TE
Stanford	Quenton Meeks	15	DB
Tennessee	32 rank, Tennessee lost 3 early entrees	19	Team 32
Tennessee	Rashaan Gaulden	10	DB
Tennessee	John Kelly	7	RB
Tennessee	Reginald McKenzie	2	DT
Texas	3 rank, Texas lost 6 early entrees	82	Team 3
Texas	Connor Williams	23	T
Texas	Malik Jefferson	22	LB
Texas	DeShon Elliott	14	DB
Texas	Holton Hill	12	DB
Texas	Michael Dickson	7	P
Texas	Chris Warren	4	RB
Texas A&M	30 rank, Texas A&M lost 1 early entrees	21	Team 30
Texas A&M	Christian Kirk	21	WR
Texas Tech	44 rank, Texas Tech lost 1 early entrees	11	Team 44
Texas Tech	Keke Coutee	11	WR
Toledo	55 rank, Toledo lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 55
Toledo	Olasunkanmi Adeniyi	2	DE
UCF	31 rank, UCF lost 2 early entrees	19	Team 31
UCF	Jordan Akins	18	TE
UCF	Tre’Quan Smith	2	WR
UCLA	9 rank, UCLA lost 4 early entrees	57	Team 9
UCLA	Josh Rosen	25	QB
UCLA	Kolton Miller	24	T
UCLA	Jordan Lasley	6	WR
UCLA	Austin Roberts	2	TE
UNC	56 rank, UNC lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 56
UNC	Andre Smith	2	LB
USC	11 rank, USC lost 4 early entrees	55	Team 11
USC	Sam Darnold	25	QB
USC	Ronald Jones	22	RB
USC	Deontay Burnett	6	WR
USC	Rasheem Green	2	DT
Virginia Tech	7 rank, Virginia Tech lost 3 early entrees	59	Team 7
Virginia Tech	Tremaine Edmunds	25	LB
Virginia Tech	Tim Settle	20	DT
Virginia Tech	Terrell Edmunds	14	DB
Wake Forest	37 rank, Wake Forest lost 1 early entrees	17	Team 37
Wake Forest	Jessie Bates	17	DB
Washington	25 rank, Washington lost 1 early entrees	24	Team 25
Washington	Vita Vea	24	NT
Washington St.	34 rank, Washington State lost 2 early entrees	18	Team 34
Washington St.	Hercules Mata’afa	17	DE
Washington St.	Tavares Martin	2	WR
Western Kentucky	57 rank, Western Kentucky lost 1 early entrees	2	Team 57
Western Kentucky	Joel Iyiegbuniwe	2	LB
Wisconsin	33 rank, Wisconsin lost 1 early entrees	19	Team 33
Wisconsin	Nick Nelson	19	DB
Wyoming	23 rank, Wyoming lost 1 early entrees	25	Team 23
Wyoming	Josh Allen	25	QB