Patrick Peterson going into draft

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU star cornerback Patrick Peterson will enter the NFL draft.

Peterson announced his plans Monday at a news conference with coach Les Miles.

The 6-foot-1, 222-pound junior, who also handled kickoff and punt returns, routinely covered opponents' top receivers one-on-one and is widely projected to be a first-round pick. He had four interceptions and returned two punts for touchdowns.

"I pretty much achieved all my goals here," said Peterson, who won the Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back and the Bednarik Award as the top defender in college football. "I believe it just was the right time to go."

Even Miles agreed.

"This is a decision that Patrick Peterson and his family made independent of me, but I want to say simply that I agree with it completely," Miles said.

Peterson, who also was the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year for 2010, was widely expected to make his junior season his last in college.

"Leaving this place with the ability that I have was just a no-brainer for me," he said.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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