Kentucky RB Benny Snell heading to the NFL, will play in Citrus Bowl

Kentucky running back Benny Snell will skip his senior season and go to the NFL.

The junior announced Friday afternoon that he’ll be putting his name into the 2019 NFL draft. The star running back said in a Twitter video that he would be playing in No. 14 Kentucky’s Citrus Bowl matchup against Penn State.

Snell had 263 carries for 1,305 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns in 2018. He also had 17 catches for 105 yards. He was the workhorse back for an offense that had 2,416 rushing yards vs. just 1,979 passing yards.

Snell rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his three seasons at Kentucky. He had 262 carries for 1,333 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2017 and 186 carries for 1,091 yards and 13 touchdowns as a freshman in 2016. Snell should be one of the first running backs off the board in the draft, though don’t be surprised if you hear people talk about Snell’s heavy workload along with his lack of receptions over the last three seasons as the draft approaches.

Snell wasn’t the only running back that announced his intention to declare for the draft either.

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Kansas State’s Alex Barnes also declares

Kansas State’s most prolific offensive player in 2018 is heading to the NFL as well. Alex Barnes announced shortly before Snell that he was declaring for the draft.

Barnes had 256 carries for 1,355 yards and 12 touchdowns. No other Kansas State player had more than 700 combined rushing and receiving yards.

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Memphis RB Darrell Henderson declares too

Memphis star Darrell Henderson said earlier in the week that he was heading to the NFL. He made no announcement about playing or not playing in the team’s Birmingham Bowl matchup against Wake Forest on Dec. 22.

Henderson had 216 carries for 1,919 yards in 2018. That’s an average of nearly nine yards a carry. He’s been perhaps the most prolific running back in college football and would have gotten serious Heisman consideration had he played in a Power Five conference.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter

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