The NFL signing deadline has once again come and gone and for the second straight season the Big 12 had just three underclassmen declare for the draft. This year it was Robert Griffin, Justin Blackmon, and Ronnell Lewis. The was the fewest playersof any of the six BCS conferences.
Griffin and Blackmon were expected to leave and it's hard to argue with either of their decisions. Lewis, Oklahoma's defensive end, also declared but his reasons were more likely related to issues he was having at OU since he was suspended for the final two games of the regular season and didn't participate in the Sooners' bowl game, either.
The one player whose decision to stay in school and may have been a bit of a surprise to some was Oklahoma's quarterback, Landry Jones, who is headed back to Norman for one more year. He's been the starter for almost three full seasons already, but decided to stay put right where he was and help Oklahoma get the national title many thought they might get this season.
Outside of Jones, there wasn't a lot of talk of others leaving early. Texas' Alex Okafor and Kenny Vaccoro both seemed like possibilities early on, but both decided to stay in Austin and play for what should be an unbelievable defense next season for Texas.
The ACC had the most defections of any conference led by five Miami Hurricanes declaring for the draft. (It's a good thing Al Golden appears to be cleaning up in recruiting).
Here are the numbers broken down by conference. According to draftcountdown.com, 57 underclassmen in all (total ended up at 65) decided to leave school early.
- ACC - 14
- SEC - 11
- Pac-12 - 11
- Big Ten - 5
- Big East - 4
- Big 12 - 3
- Non BCS - 9
Of the SEC's 11 players leaving for the draft, three each came from LSU and Alabama. Is that surprising? Depends on your vantage point I suppose, but when you have that kind of talent, there's little doubt you are going to lose a few players to the NFL every now and then.
As for the Big 12, it'll certainly be different next season without Blackmon and Griffin running up and down the field, but so is life in college football. The conference did avoid huge losses at least when looking quantity, although Blackmon and Griffin - and not to forget Lewis too - are big losses any way you look at it.
UPDATE: He only played in three games this past season, but it appears that the rumors Kansas State's Bryce Brown will enter the draft are indeed true. He did play in those three games, but then left the team and school without any explanation. It's hard to imagine he would make it onto any NFL's team's draft boards, but he could be an intriguing free agent pick up if he's able to show the scouts something prior to the draft.
