How Penn State's Micah Parsons, Pitt's Jaylen Twyman will do in the NFL Draft. And how they may help change it.

The chances of playing any semblance of a college football season in the fall are looking bleak. It’s unclear if the sport will try to function in the spring. And who knows if either option will be safe enough for the players.

For those reasons, many top-tier NFL prospects have already declared their intentions to forgo their final seasons of eligibility and turn pro for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Among them, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and Pitt defensive lineman Jaylen Twyman. Both are considered first-round draft choices.

Even without the benefit of three years of tape on their resumes — as some players who would’ve been seniors can show.

Luke Easterling covers the NFL Draft for “DraftWire,” which is part of USA Today’s NFL coverage. He joins me regularly on the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast in the weeks leading up to the draft. He doesn’t see Parsons being hurt at all by failing to show his talents for a third year in State College.

“He can do it all. He’s absolutely a guy who can go in the top five,” Easterling says of Parsons. “There are players that will be hurt by not having a 2020 season. There are players that needed another season to put more film out there. Micah Parsons isn’t that guy. We know exactly what he brings to the table. He’s not going to go any lower in this draft than if he did play this season.”

Easterling drew an analogy to LSU’s Devin White. He was a top-5 pick in 2019 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Parsons is three inches taller and a little leaner than White. But Easterling says he’d thrive in a role similar to how White is deployed in Tampa’s hybrid 3-4/4-3 system.

As for Twyman, the story is a bit different. Easterling also sees the former Panther as an “easy call” to be a first-round pick. But he thinks Twyman is good enough that he may have vaulted into the top 20 or 15 picks with the benefit of his redshirt junior season in 2020.

“(Not having a 2020 season) is sad for him. He’s not going to have a chance to show that ‘I’m not just a borderline first-round guy. I’m a top 15-20 guy. I’m one of the best linemen in this class.’ Another strong season and he could’ve shown that he is that guy,” Easterling said.

Many want to make Aaron Donald comparisons. After all, Twyman switched his number to 97 at Pitt to honor his fellow Panther product. They both play defensive line. And Twyman is of a similar stature. At 6-foot-2 and 290 pounds, Twyman is about an inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than how Donald is listed by the Los Angeles Rams.

Easterling hesitates to compare anyone to Donald, given Donald’s perennial All-Pro status. But he sees the similarities.

“He’s a physical, disruptive guy who makes plays in the backfield and is a tough out for any offensive lineman,” Easterling said of the Donald connection.

He also pointed out that — potentially like Twyman — Donald may have been a bit undervalued because of his shorter, squat stature as a defensive lineman. And that’s why he was projected in that 15-20 range until he exploded at the Senior Bowl and the NFL Draft Combine and was eventually drafted 13th by the Rams.

In this podcast, Easterling and I take a look at some other early declarations from top-round prospects. We discuss if the NFL may roll back its early-entry policy should these players succeed with just two years of game tape and college development and how the draft landscape will look if college football is canceled or pushed back until the spring.

LISTEN: Tim Benz and Luke Easterling discuss how the lost college football season will impact players' NFL Draft prospects