Allen Robinson and Kerryon Johnson started a really interesting debate about UDFAs

First of all, when a player finished his 4 or 5 seasons in the NCAA and he no longer has the eligibility to play college football he can delcare for the draft. In fact, one of the few draft rules is that underclass players are prohibited from entering the draft until three college football seasons have passed since their high school graduation. This means that almost all freshmen and some sophomores cannot be drafted. However, you do not have to fully complete 4 years of playing in the NCAA. You can declare after playing your Junior season (3rd for most players).

The deadline for underclassmen, sophomores and juniors, to declare themselves eligible for the NFL draft is in January. This important aspect is that once a player declares for the draft, they forego their remaining eligibility to play college football, which means that once they declare for the draft they cannot return to play in college.

But, this can be tricky because, if you are not selected in the draft you can't come back for your senior year in college. This can cause a lot of problems for these young men.

Former Auburn Tigers and Lions running back, Kerryon Johnson tweeted out that he believes players should be able to come back if they are not selected in the NFL draft.



Former Bears WR Allen Robinson responded that he agrees with Johnson:


The other side of the argument is that if you allow players to do that, they'll just declare every year and put GMs and Scouts twice through the process of scouting and evaluating prospects instead of giving those ready and eligible the best chance to make the NFL.