National Football League

USC WR Nelson Agholor declares for NFL Draft

Published Jan. 3, 2015 6:22 p.m. ET

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Nelson Agholor entered USC as a well-accomplished running back coming out of Tampa's Berkeley Prep. He now leaves after having one of the finest seasons by a wide receiver in school history.

Agholor will forego his senior season and enter the 2015 NFL Draft, he announced Saturday in a statement.

"These past three years at USC have been a blessing, along with a lot of my life," Agholor said in a statement. "I am very grateful to have had the coaches and staff members of this prestigious university in my life. Because of these men and women, I feel prepared to follow my dreams into the NFL."

Early Projections have Agholor as a second-or-third-round pick and a top-10 wide receiver in the 2015 draft Class.

Agholor stepped up in his first season as the primary target and led what, otherwise, was a relatively young group of wide receivers.

He really shined in November when he became the first Trojan to post consecutive 200-yard receiving games against Washington State and Cal.

USC's Leonard Williams to enter NFL Draft: 'I feel like I'm ready'

The 6-1, 190-pound wide receiver led the Trojans with 104 receptions, 1,313 yards, and 12 touchdowns. He also ran back two punts for touchdowns in 2014, giving him four punt return touchdowns in his career, which is a school record.

Agholor is the only Trojan among the top-8 wide receivers and top-7 punt returners in school history.

Freshman JuJu Smith is now the team's leading returning wide receiver with Agholor's departure. Smith had 54 catches for 724 yards and five touchdowns in 2014.

Agholor is the second Trojan to declare for the 2015 NFL Draft joining Leonard Williams who made his announcement earlier in the week.

Running back Buck Allen has yet to make his announcement, but it is expected that he will enter the draft. Coincidentally, all three -- Williams, Agholor and Allen -- hail from the state of Florida.