Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Charles McDonald

An early progress report of the 2021 NFL Draft opt outs

The 2021 NFL Draft gave us a group of players that haven’t really existed in the NFL before: multiple first round picks that didn’t play their final season of college football.

Due to the pandemic that seems to be never-ending, players were allowed to opt out of the season with no penalty or real scrutiny, paving the way for highly touted draft prospects to begin preparing for the NFL a year early.

Six players that opted out of the 2020 college footballs season were selected in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft. Their acclimation and adjustment to the NFL will be fascinating to track this year as they jump right into professional action after a year away from the game.

Here’s how a few of these guys have performed up to this point in the preseason.

(Cornerback Caleb Farley, who was drafted by the Titans in the first round, didn’t get a blurb because he just got his first action of training camp in Week 2.)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.