INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Iowa center Logan Jones could have helped someone in last year\u2019s NFL Draft: a three-year college starter with power, quickness and considerable football acumen, who had just earned All-Big Ten honors blocking for an All-American running back in an NFL-friendly scheme.<\/p>\n
In what was considered a weak draft for center prospects, many NFL clubs would have selected Jones in a middle round with hopes of landing a long-term starter. But Jones had other plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018I\u2019m coming back. You don\u2019t need to tell me what you\u2019re gonna pay me,\u2019\u201d Jones said. \u201cI know my coaches are gonna take care of me, and they absolutely did.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a sixth season at Iowa, Jones became a unanimous first-team All-American and anchored his offensive line to the Joe Moore Award. Without really negotiating, he collected about $750,000 from revenue sharing and NIL, which is less than what top-tier college offensive tackles<\/a> make but still a high level for an interior offensive lineman.<\/p>\n Still, Jones turned down an opportunity to earn perhaps 50 percent more in the NFL. His decision once was unthinkable, but now it has become commonplace. More mid- and late-round draft-eligible prospects have chosen to remain in school and capitalize on name, image and likeness arrangements and revenue-sharing money from the athletic department for another year. It\u2019s a strategy that suits players like Jones, who can perhaps increase his draft stock while receiving a guaranteed paycheck.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get more players staying in school because they\u2019re going to get the money for one year, and then they can develop,\u201d said retired NFL agent Ben Dogra, who represented 54 first-round selections over a 13-year period. \u201cYou have some kids that want to stay in school for six years, because those kids are sixth-round, seventh-round picks. They\u2019re never going to make as much money because it doesn\u2019t matter what the value of your four-year contract is. The only thing that matters is the guaranteed portion of the contract.\u201d<\/p>\n Five years ago, very few players in Jones\u2019 position would choose to stay in college and forfeit a year\u2019s pay. In the 2025 draft, fifth-round pick Drew Kendall of Boston College was the only true center selected, and he was an underclassman. He received a four-year, $4.55 million contract, according to Spotrac. But with one more season working at one of college football\u2019s top offensive line factories, Jones\u2019 short-term financial setback could parlay into more pay this year.<\/p>\n For NFL clubs, choices like the one Jones made have made the middle and late rounds of the draft more difficult. In 2021, 128 players with eligibility declared for the draft, with 100 getting selected. By 2024, those numbers fell to 58 and 49 respectively. On one hand, it has led to a more experienced group of players \u2014 the average age of Day 3 selections (as of Sept. 1 of that draft year, per pro-football-reference.com<\/a>) rose in that time from 22.4 years old to 23 \u2014 and a higher percentage of underclassmen becoming draft picks. But the talent pool has become shallower in the process.<\/p>\n In the middle rounds of past drafts, teams chose \u201cyounger developmental guys that haven\u2019t scratched the surface yet,\u201d according to Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach.<\/p>\n Now?<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re getting a little bit more already finished product,\u201d Veach said. \u201cSo, that\u2019s challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n Three underclassmen selected on Day 3 of the 2021 NFL Draft \u2014 receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, center Drew Dalman and safety Talanoa Hufanga \u2014 have made the Pro Bowl. None of the Day 3 underclassmen in 2024 have earned a Pro Bowl nod, although they have played only two NFL seasons.<\/p>\n This year, 69 underclassmen declared for the draft, and 64 percent (44) are ranked among The Athletic analyst Dane Brugler\u2019s top 100 prospects, with 33 in the top 50. So the lower number of underclassmen available strips away some of the talent in the fourth round and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to thin out every draft, which means you\u2019ve got less margin of error if you\u2019re an NFL general manager and head coach trying to assemble your team,\u201d Dogra said. \u201cLet\u2019s say you have a third- or fourth-round pick. You\u2019re expecting that player to become a starter of your team, maybe not an All-Pro player, but a functional starter. Now that player, if he\u2019s staying in school, you\u2019re elevating the fifth- and sixth-round picks into those positions, and the bust factor is gonna be higher.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s a gamble anytime an NFL prospect returns to college. That\u2019s especially true at quarterback. Penn State\u2019s Drew Allar declared his return for the 2026 season before he competed in the 2025 College Football Playoff and led the Nittany Lions to the CFP semifinals.<\/p>\n Before the 2025 season, Allar had top-five pick potential<\/a> and Penn State opened at No. 2 in both major polls, but both failed to meet expectations. In the sixth game of the year, Allar broke his ankle and was lost for the season. This year, teams evaluating Allar now have a chance to get the skill set that helped his draft profile surge 15 months ago on a discount in the third or fourth round<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy decision was not a financial decision,\u201d Allar said. \u201cIt was a strictly football and personal decision to return to school, obviously, to further my football career, but also to graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n