College football underclassmen who are draft-eligible were faced with a Monday deadline to file declaration papers for the 2022 NFL Draft. While there is a period for reconsideration before final approval from the league, we have a pretty good idea of who’s leaving and who’s coming back for another season at the collegiate level.
Many of the departures discussed here were expected, at least by the end of the season based on performance during 2021 and/or a first-round projection for the 2022 draft. So coaches either have a backup plan in place, or have their eye on the transfer portal in hopes of addressing a need before the fall. Spring practice will provide more information to help us determine who exactly will be involved with replacing the production lost from these stars.
For now, though, we’ve got some…
