Ka’Deem Carey scores in the bowl game vs. Boston College. Photo by Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
Eighteen Pac-12 players have declared early for the NFL Draft.
Several others, including notable quarterbacks, have announced they are staying.
Arizona Wildcats running back Ka’Deem Carey … we’re still waiting.
The two-time consensus All-American still has plenty of time. The deadline for underclassmen to put their name into the draft is next Wednesday.
An announcement from Carey might have to wait for at least a few days; he will attend festivities for the Walter Camp Football Foundation in New Haven, Conn., from Thursday to Saturday night, culminating in a black-tie awards dinner. Carey is a two-time Walter Camp All-American.
If an NFL advisory committee did indeed give Carey a second-round grade, few could blame him for leaving. He has little left to prove in college and to NFL scouts. That he hasn’t announced anything yet, though, at least speaks to his willingness to give plenty of thought about returning for his senior season.
At this point, five of the nine draft-eligible underclassmen on the All-Pac-12 first-team offense have declared for the draft. Two are definitely staying: Quarterback Marcus Mariota and center Hroniss Grasu of Oregon. Stanford All-American lineman David Yankey, a senior who could return on a medical hardship, is expected to enter the draft. Then there’s Carey.
The first-team All-Pac-12 defense was a senior-dominated group. The only two draft-eligible underclassmen on the list are Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Stanford safety Ed Reynolds, who is listed by the school by his academic class (senior), even though he is a redshirt junior athletically.
Reynolds has not announced his decision. Ekpre-Olomu, despite being a potential first-rounder, decided to return for his senior season … so you never know.
Here is a list of Pac-12 players who are leaving early for the NFL Draft (with an asterisk in front of the 2013 first-team all-league players):
Dion Bailey, S, USC
*Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State
Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State
Khairi Fortt, LB, California
Xavier Grimble, TE, USC
Kameron Jackson, CB, California
Marqise Lee, WR, USC
Colt Lyerla, TE, Oregon
*Marcus Martin, C, USC
Terrance Mitchell, CB, Oregon
Jake Murphy, TE, Utah
*Paul Richardson, WR, Colorado
Richard Rodgers, TE, California
*Bishop Sankey, RB, Washington
Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE, Washington
*Xavier Su’a-Filo, OL, UCLA
De’Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon
George Uko, DL, USC
NOTABLES STAYING
*Ifo Ekpre-Omolu, CB, Oregon
*Hroniss Grasu, C, Oregon
Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA
Sean Mannion, QB, Oregon State
*Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon