After losing in the College Football Playoff semifinals, senior offensive lineman Hayden Conner officially declared for the NFL draft on Jan. 12.
The announcement was made on social media, shortly after fellow offensive lineman, junior Kelvin Banks Jr., also declared for the draft.
“These past four years have been the best years of my life,” Conner said in a video attached to his Instagram post. “I am now declaring for the 2025 NFL draft, and I am an official Texas Longhorn alumni.”
Conner played his four years of college football at Texas, earning 43 starts and playing in 51 total games. Conner and the rest of the Texas offensive line were semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, the award given to the best offensive line in the nation.
Throughout his four years on the Forty Acres, Conner played a pivotal role in turning around Texas football. Enrolling in the school in 2021, he was a part of head coach Steve Sarkisian’s first season at Texas.
Following a freshman year with a losing record and playing in only eight games, Conner grew into the role of the team and has since played in all games for the Longhorns. In his last three years wearing burnt orange, Conner contributed to three winning seasons, an Alamo Bowl appearance and two playoff semifinal appearances.
Conner also played in two conference championships, winning the Big 12 in 2023 and falling short to Georgia for the SEC in an overtime loss. In Texas’ 49-21 win versus Oklahoma State for the Big 12 championship, Conner blocked for then-redshirt-sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers who threw for 452 yards and four touchdowns. Ewers was only sacked once in that game.
“From going 5–7 to back-to-back CFP semifinal appearances, a lot of good and bad has happened, but through all of that that has happened in this city, it has shaped me into the man I am now,” Conner wrote in his message.
Conner will enter the NFL draft alongside a list of teammates who have also declared. Jake Majors declared on Jan. 13, one day after his fellow offensive lineman. Junior running back Jaydon Blue, who rushed for 730 yards and eight touchdowns over 134 carries this season, also declared for the draft.
Conner hopes to find a team in the National Football League on Thursday, April 24 when the draft officially begins.