NFL-record 106 underclassmen have declared for 2018 NFL Draft

This year’s 2018 NFL Draft has already set a record, several weeks before it will begin. The NFL announced on Friday that it has approved a whopping 106 underclassmen who requested “special eligibility” for this year’s draft, making 2018 the first year that the number is in triple digits.

The previous high was in 2014, when 98 underclassmen declared for the draft.

This does not include another 13 players who had eligibility remaining but had completed their college degrees, thus making them eligible for the draft as well. While the Green Bay Packers will certainly have keen interest in the full group of underclassmen, that latter group includes a couple of players who may intrigue the Packers in particular — Ohio State defensive end Sam Hubbard and SMU wideout Courtland Sutton being among them.

Players may declare for the draft if they have eligibility remaining, provided they have spent no fewer than three years out of high school; that can include a redshirt year, meaning that a true junior or redshirt sophomore can declare if he so chooses.

Only five players in this year’s group are redshirt sophomores. Those players are noted in the second table below with an asterisk.