The big NFL draft news this week was that USC quarterback Matt Barkley will wait until 2013 to turn pro. But we’ve also had a couple of players announce that they’re leaving college early to enter the 2012 draft.
College Football Talk has the news that Memphis defensive tackle Dontari Poe and Utah State running back Robert Turbin both announced that they’ll enter the NFL draft.
The 6-foot-5, 350-pound Poe says he’s been told he’s currently projected as a second-round pick but that if he shows in workouts that he has good athleticism to go along with his great size, he could move up into the first round.
“I got advice from a lot of people and they said there was a good chance I could go in the first round if I worked hard and [tested] good at the Combine or at Pro Day,” Poe told the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Turbin bounced back from missing the entire 2010 season with a knee injury to be the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2011. He’s reportedly expecting to go in the third or fourth round.