When it comes to draft eligibility, the NFL has the strictest rules among the four major professional sports leagues in North America.

The MLB and NHL drafts allow teams to select players who have just graduated from high school. NBA teams can draft players as young as 19 years old, so long as they're one year out of high school.

Football players have to wait a bit longer to go pro.

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese are two of the youngest top prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft class. Both players will still turn 21 before they play their first regular-season game in the pros. In contrast, one of MLB's most recent debuts was that of 19-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin.

Here's how draft eligibility works in the NFL:

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NFL draft eligibility rules

According to the NFL, for a player to be eligible for the NFL draft, they must:

• have been out of high school for at least three years AND

• have used up all of their college eligibility before the start of next season.

This means most true freshmen and sophomores are not eligible for the NFL draft. Generally, red-shirt sophomores and juniors are the youngest draft-eligible players.

In addition, underclassmen and players who graduated before using up all of their eligibility must obtain the league's permission to declare for the draft. By declaring, players forfeit any remaining collegiate eligibility.

Ahead of the draft every year, the NFL's player personnel staff reviews all of the requests from underclassmen who wish to declare early. They also confirm each player's eligibility both before draft night and after a player has been drafted.

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2026 NFL Draft top prospects

Ohio State prospects dominate the top of USA TODAY Sports' draft expert Ayrton Ostly's big board. Here's who ranks in the top 10 heading into draft night:

• LB Arvell Reese, Ohio State

• S Caleb Downs, Ohio State

• RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame

• QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana

• LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State

• Edge David Bailey, Texas Tech

• CB Mansoor Delane, LSU

• WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State

• Edge Rueben Bain Jr., Miami (Fla.)

• OT Spencer Fano, Utah

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2026 NFL Draft eligibility rules: Who can be drafted this year?