NFL Draft Advisory Board

The NFL Draft Advisory Board (sometimes initialized as the NFLDAB^[1]) is a panel of professional football scouting experts who offer advisory opinions to college football players as to the likely level of demand for the players' services during the NFL draft.^[2][3]

The board was created in 1994 to assist those college football players who were eligible to continue playing NCAA football or enter the NFL draft.^[2] Although the NFL had begun permitting such "underclassmen" to apply for the draft in 1989, within a few years it was clear that commission-based sports agents had deluded many of them as to their likely demand by teams and future salaries. 76 of the first 165 underclassmen to apply were not drafted,^[2] and once a college football player has entered the draft, he is no longer eligible to play college football.^[4] Thus, it was important that such players understand whether they would likely be among the small number of players drafted, and what their salaries might be, before committing to the process.^[2]

The board is composed of general managers and personnel directors from a number of NFL teams, along with the directors of the NFL's two scouting combines, BLESTO and The National. Before 2015 it issued an advisory opinion that a player has potential to be picked:^[2][5][6][7]

• in the first round
• as high as the second round
• as high as the third round
• after the third round
• undrafted

The board has a fair track record that has successfully predicted pick placement for some underclassmen but not others.^[2] From 2012 to 2014 it accurately predicted the selections of 73.7% of the players the board graded as first-round selections, and 85.4% of the players it graded for the second, but almost 53% of those receiving third-round grades or lower were not drafted.^[2]

The number of underclassmen declaring for the draft rose from 56 in 2011 to 98 in 2014, setting a record each year. After 36 (37%) of those declaring in 2014 went undrafted, and eight schools had more than five underclassmen declaring, the board altered its procedure. As of 2015^[update] it offers three opinions:^[8]

• first round
• second round
• neither, which means that the board advises the player to stay in school

Also, the number of players from a school seeking an opinion is limited to five, with some exceptions. The NFL reported that the number of underclassmen requesting evaluations for the 2015 draft declined by 42%, from 214 to 147, and the number declaring for the draft declined by 20.4%, to 76.^[8]

167 underclassmen applied for an evaluation during the 2007-2008 season.^[2] Players typically submit their requests for a Board opinion by late December and, after receiving the panel's report, have until mid-January to decide whether to enter the draft.^[9] They have 72 hours after the deadline to change their minds and decide to not enter.^[8]

The Board's written opinion is delivered confidentially to the player. While some of the draft-eligible candidates choose to disclose the results to their coaches^[10] or to the press, either fully^[11][12] or partially,^[13] others do not.^[14]

For some players, the Board opinion determines whether they enter the draft^[1][15] while for others, little heed is paid to the opinion.^[16] Some players are so sure of what the opinion will say that they do not even wait for it to arrive before deciding on their course,^[17] while others listen to their coaches' advice on whether to declare early.^[18]