April 15--Some of the top prospects in this year's NFL Draft will soon be on their way to Chicago. On Wednesday evening, the league announced a list of 26 confirmed attendees for the draft, which will take place April 30-May 2 with the event's hub at the Auditorium Theatre downtown.
It's been well publicized that neither Florida State's Jameis Winston nor Oregon's Marcus Mariota will attend the draft. Winston and Mariota are considered the top two quarterbacks in this year's draft class and could very well be the top two overall picks.
Notably, not a single quarterback is on the list of players who will attend this year's draft. Neither is Alabama's Amari Cooper, widely thought of as one of the top two receivers in the draft.
But even with those absences, more than two dozen of the draft's biggest names will be on hand to hear their names called.
Here's that list, by position:
Receivers: DeVante Parker (Louisville); Breshad Perriman (Central Florida); Devin Smith (Ohio State); Jaelen Strong (Arizona State); Kevin White (West Virginia)
Running backs: Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin); Todd Gurley (Georgia)
Offensive linemen: La'el Collins (LSU); Cameron Erving (Florida State); D.J. Humphries (Florida); Andrus Peat (Stanford); Brandon Scherff (Iowa); Laken Tomlinson (Duke)
Defensive linemen/outside linebackers: Arik Armstead (Oregon); Vic Beasley (Clemson); Dante Fowler (Florida); Randy Gregory (Nebraska); Shane Ray (Missouri); Danny Shelton (Washington); Leonard Williams (USC)
Linebackers: Benardrick McKinney (Mississippi State);
Safeties: Landon Collins (Alabama); Bud Dupree (Kentucky);
Cornerbacks: Kevin Johnson (Wake Forest); Byron Jones (Connecticut); Trae Waynes (Michigan State)
The Chicago Bears own the No. 7 overall pick in the draft, which this year is being held outside of New York for the first time since 1964. The Bears have five additional selections, one each in Rounds 2-6.
dwiederer@tribpub.com
