Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Jack Pyburn could be headed back to college after a Louisiana judge granted a temporary restraining order to the former LSU edge rusher and 15 others against the NCAA on Wednesday, clearing a path for them to leave the NFL and return to college football. Several of them intend now on entering the transfer portal.
Pyburn’s argument centers on the organization’s five-year clock and his injury-shortened 2023 campaign at Florida, when a torn ACL ended his season after nine appearances.
Others who have successfully been granted a TRO by a Louisiana court include former James Madison linebacker Trent Hendrick, Ole Miss starters Dae’Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris and Wydett Williams, and SMU running back TJ Harden. Hendrick was the 2025 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year for the Dukes and received invites to participate in minicamps with the Cleveland Browns and the Kansas City Chiefs this month.
There’s a whole conversation to be had about how bad this could be for college sports, for the NCAA, etc. Others can chime in there. From my vantage point, the most interesting story is how I would rank the top 10 among this group of players.
The majority of these players are second or third level UDFA types, whose athletic and financial ceiling is best served at the collegiate level. Pyburn, potentially Wright and Williams have a chance to catch on somewhere in the NFL but most likely practice squad candidates. If you’re looking for an overarching storyline, it’s this type of player represented here that we could see fight for more eligibility as they have the most to gain: Although these aren’t huge needle movers, there good players that address answers that are hard to find in the NIL era. A second or third edge. A plug and play linebacker. A mismatch tight end, who ideally is a third to fifth option. A third safety. You get the picture. Here’s my top 10.
