The NFL is a measuring stick for college football teams as to how they are able to improve their players once they hit campus. Over a five year period from 2011-2015, 247Sports took a deep dive into evaluating talent development, calling it their “Development Rating.”
Points are awarded to players inside their Top 247 who were drafted, with an emphasis on higher talent being drafted earlier and omitting some players, such as one’s who medically retired. The Irish finished as the 10th highest rated school in the time frame, having 42.9% of Brian Kelly’s player’s who qualified drafted in that span.
Chris Hummer, who collected the data, lumped Stanford along with the Irish due to their high academic standards and being able to overcome that and still produce NFL talent. “Stanford and Notre Dame have had their swoons in play over the last decade, but both produced a quartet of Top247 first-round selections within this recruiting period. They both also consistently land high-level recruits looks for a more rigorous academic process in college.” An impressive stat for both teams considering the difficult course load those players take on in their collegiate careers.
This analyzation of data isn’t an end all of how teams are viewed as developing their players, it’s a look at how teams do with top talent and getting them to the next level. Most collegiate players want to play in the NFL, it’s the next logical step. With Notre Dame having a good amount of success with their top recruits, it’s a big time recruiting pitch for Kelly and his staff to perspective Irish stars.