The NFL announced Thursday morning that a record-breaking 65 underclassmen have been granted special eligibility for the 2012 draft. The previous high was 56 which last occurred a year ago. So much for the theory that lesser contracts for high draft picks would curtail the mass exodus of young players into the NFL.

Prominent among the list, of course, is Stanford's Andrew Luck, Baylor's Robert Griffin III, Alabama running back Trent Richardson and a host of other supremely talented underclassmen that we covered in this underclassmen tracker.

While college coaches are likely bemoaning the loss of so many talented players today, NFL teams couldn't be happier. Frankly, this was an average senior class at most positions and the underclassmen have greatly improved the talent level. In fact, if one were to go group by group, they'd find that an underclassmen ranks at the top of 10 of the 15 offensive and defensive positions on NFLDraftScout.com's board. An even greater testament to the impact underclassmen will have on this draft class, consider that of the highest ranked 11 prospects graded by NFLDraftScout.com, 10 are underclassmen. Penn State defensive tackle Devon Still, currently ranked eighth overall, is the exception. Following Still and North Carolina's Quinton Coples, however, are four underclassmen -- each of whom could be first round picks.

Three of the 65 underclassmen listed by the NFL I watched in person practicing at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in Carson, California over the past few days. You can read about my impressions of Miami's Brandon Washington (OG) and Aldarius Johnson (WR), as well as Boston College's Max Holloway in this writeup following Tuesday's practice.

Besides the players we'd already known to be leaving school early, there were a few surprises on the NFL's official list. One, Miami's Johnson, I just mentioned. The others are Texas running back Jamison Berryhill, Kansas State running back Bryce Brown, Minnesota tight end Tiree Eure, Syracuse wide receiver Dorian Graham, Purdue guard Ken Plue, Oklahoma State defensive back Johnny Thomas, and Syracuse defensive back Phillip Thomas.

Below is the full list of names released this morning from the NFL.

 

Player	Pos.	College
Alexander, Alvester	RB	Wyoming
Allen, Dwayne	TE	Clemson
Baker, Edwin	RB	Michigan State
Ball, Mike	RB	Nevada
Berryhill, Jamison	RB	Texas
Blackmon, Justin	WR	Oklahoma State
Brockers, Michael	DT	Louisiana State
Brown, Bryce	RB	Kansas State
Burfict, Vontaze	LB	Arizona State
Charles, Orson	TE	Georgia
Claiborne, Morris	DB	Louisiana State
Cox, Fletcher	DT	Mississippi State
DeCastro, David	G	Stanford
Eure, Tiree	TE	Minnesota
Forston, Marcus	DT	Miami
Gilmore, Stephon	DB	South Carolina
Givens, Chris	WR	Wake Forest
Graham, Dorian	WR	Syracuse
Griffin, Robert	QB	Baylor
Hampton, Jewel	RB	Southern Illinois
Harris, Cliff	DB	Oregon
Hightower, Dont’a	LB	Alabama
Hill, Stephen	WR	Georgia Tech
Hillman, Ronnie	RB	San Diego State
Holloway, Max	DE	Boston College
Hosley, Jayron	DB	Virginia Tech
Jackson, Janzen	DB	McNeese State
James, LaMichael	RB	Oregon
Jeffery, Alshon	WR	South Carolina
Johnson, Aldarius	WR	Miami
Johnson, Damaris	WR	Tulsa
Jones, Chandler	DE	Syracuse
Kalil, Matt	T	Southern California
Kirkpatrick, Dre	DB	Alabama
Konz, Peter	C	Wisconsin
Kuechly, Luke	LB	Boston College
Lewis, Ronnell	DE	Oklahoma
Luck, Andrew	QB	Stanford
Manning, Terrell	LB	North Carolina State
Martin, Jonathan	T	Stanford
Massie, Bobby	T	Mississippi
Mercilus, Whitney	DE	Illinois
Miller, Lamar	RB	Miami
Osweiler, Brock	QB	Arizona State
Page, Eric	WR	Toledo
Paige-Moss, Donte	DE	North Carolina
Perry, Nick	DE	Southern California
Pierce, Bernard	RB	Temple
Plue, Ken	G	Purdue
Poe, Dontari	DT	Memphis
Randle, Rueben	WR	Louisiana State
Reiff, Riley	T	Iowa
Richardson, Trent	RB	Alabama
Robinson, Josh	DB	Central Florida
Sanu, Mohamed	WR	Rutgers
Scott, Darrell	RB	South Florida
Streeter, Tommy	WR	Miami
Thomas, Darron	QB	Oregon
Thomas, Johnny	DB	Oklahoma State
Thomas, Phillip	DB	Syracuse
Trotter, Barrett	QB	Auburn
Vernon, Olivier	DE	Miami
Washington, Brandon	T	Miami
Wilson, David	RB	Virginia Tech
Worthy, Jerel	DT	Michigan State