Category: Irish in NFL

NFL Draft Order Set Following Regular Season Conclusion

With the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft…

The NFL regular season came to an end on Sunday with the playoffs not being the only thing that were determined.  Also of course was the NFL draft order for the 2024 NFL draft which could very well see a Notre Dame product get selected in the first 5-10 picks.

We all assume that Caleb Williams of USC and Drake Maye of North Carolina end up hearing their names called at No. 1 and No. 2 overall – but what does the rest of the order look line for non-playoff teams?

Here is how the NFL draft will setup with picks 1-18 in the 2024 NFL draft that takes place in Detroit.

Notre Dame in NFL: Dallas Cowboys win NFC East

Cowboys are rolling – how far will they go this post season?

The Dallas Cowboys rolled the Washington Commanders 38-10 on Sunday and in doing so were crowned champions of the NFC East for the 2023 season.

A pair of former Notre Dame players starred for the Cowboys this season and will represent Dallas at the Pro Bowl later this year.

Brandon Aubrey, a former Notre Dame soccer player was perfect in field goal tries for Dallas this season, going 35-of-35 including a perfect 9-for-9 mark from beyond 50-yards before missing two of his field goal attempts in Sunday’s victory.

On the offensive line Zack Martin showed he was worth every penny of his massive contract from earlier this year in helped protect Dak Prescott in what was perhaps the quarterback’s best year to date.

The Cowboys win secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs that begin next weekend.

Former Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith gets another shot in NFL

Smith is off to the Steel City

The NFL career of former Notre Dame star linebacker [autotag]Jaylon Smith[/autotag] has not gone to plan at all.

It started with him suffering a severe knee injury ahead of being drafted, which saw his stock drop him into the second round where the Dallas Cowboys selected him with the No. 34 overall pick.

Smith would eventually earn a huge extension, but the Cowboys would release him just two years later. He would then bounce around different teams, from the New York Giants, to the New Orleans Saints, eventually landing with the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this year.

He was released again, but stuck on the practice squad, and on Tuesday night signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers also to their practice squad.

It’s another opportunity for Smith to show that he can still help an NFL team, and we wish Jaylon the best at trying to revive his career.

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Watch: Michael Mayer’s first NFL touchdown wins game for Raiders

There you go, Mike!

[autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag] scored many touchdowns during his time at Notre Dame. However, the NFL is a different beast, and he soon found that it wouldn’t be as easy to score at the next level. Still, he picked a great time for his first NFL touchdown as it gave his Las Vegas Raiders a lead against the New York Jets that ultimately held up:

Sure, it took until Week 10 for Mayer to find the end zone, but it happened in a close game on “Sunday Night Football” with the entire country watching. Plus, it happened on NBC, which only added to the allure of any Irish fan tuned into this game.

Mayer has a long way to go to prove that he should have been should have been selected on the first day of the NFL draft. Still, this should be a good start towards that direction, even if it came with his rookie season more than halfway done.

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Notre Dame football: All-time Irish linebacker signing with Saints

Former Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith has a new home in the NFC South.

One of the best to ever play linebacker at Notre Dame is headed to the Bayou. No, Brian Kelly didn’t get a player in the transfer portal. Former Irish star Jaylon Smith is signing with the New Orleans Saints.

TheScore’s Jordan Schultz reported the Saints signed Smith after a successful tryout on Wednesday.

Smith is 28 and has played in the NFL since being drafted by the Cowboys in the second round in 2016. Had it not been for a horrific knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl, he very likely would have been a top-10 pick.

Smith has played 87 games since returning from that knee injury in 2017.  He has recorded 624 tackles in that time, including 88 last year as a member of the New York Giants.

For more on Smith and the Saints be sure to check out Saints Wire!

Also, see who joins Smith as Notre Dame’s top recruit from each state since 2000!

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Notre Dame in the NFL: Kyren Williams has monster day as Rams beat Cardinals

“Shocking to see” said no Notre Dame fan ever.

Kyren Williams was a fifth round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in the 2022 NFL draft.  To the NFL fans that only know him for that, his success at the next level may come as a surprise.

For those who watched him star at Notre Dame in 2020 and 2021, it was very much expected.

Regardless, the second year running back had a massive performance Sunday in helping the Rams to defeat the Arizona Cardinals, 26-9.  Williams rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.  He’s now rushed for 456 yards and six touchdowns on the season.

Those 456 rushing yards are the fourth most in the NFL this season.

Check out his touchdown run below and then see how some Notre Dame fans and fellow football fans reacted to his big day after.

Notre Dame’s all-time winningest quarterback gets NFL workout

Nobody has won more games as a starting quarterback in Notre Dame history than Ian Book and now Book is getting looks for a new NFL job.

Nobody won more games as a Notre Dame starting quarterback than Ian Book. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2021 after helping lead the Irish to College Football Playoff appearances in 2018 and 2020.

Book has had trouble sticking in the NFL. He lasted one year with the Saints and spent last year with the Eagles, both in reserve roles. He was cut before this season by the Eagles.

Book is however still putting in the work to get on an NFL roster. He spent Tuesday working out with the 49ers and according to Tom Loy of 247Sports, will work out with the Patriots on Wednesday.

All the best to Book on getting hooked back up on an NFL roster.

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Notre Dame in the NFL: Former Irish kicker makes Saints 53-man roster

Congrats to Blake!

Walking into an NFL training camp that housed a Pro Bowl kicker isn’t the easiest place to look for a regular season kicking job, but that’s exactly what former Notre Dame kicker Blake Grupe did with the New Orleans Saints – and Grupe has now made the 53-man roster.

Grupe’s successful preseason led to the Saints being able to trade kicker Wil Lutz to the Denver Broncos on Tuesday.  The Saints received a 7th round pick in the 2024 NFL draft as compensation and as a result, the former Notre Dame and Arkansas State kicker Grupe has a regular-season NFL job.

Below is what the new Saints starting placekicker had to say about the competition and winning the job.

Former Notre Dame star Zack Martin has a new deal with the Dallas Cowboys

Zack is getting paid!

The Dallas Cowboys understood how important former Notre Dame football star [autotag]Zack Martin[/autotag] is to their offense and after thinking about not heading to camp, the Cowboys have reworked the guard’s deal.

Martin will earn over $8 million dollars in his new deal, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the All-Pro was set to earn $13.5 million this year and $14 million next season. Under the new deal, Martin is going to be paid north of $18 million per campaign over the next two years.

The new deal puts the former Irish star into the top earners in the league at his position, behind only three other players according to spotrac.com’s NFL salary rankings.

One of those players also suited up off for Notre Dame in Indianapolis Colt’s guard [autotag]Quenton Nelson[/autotag] giving the Irish two of the top four paid guard’s in the NFL.

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Social media reacts to Ian Book’s 2023 preseason debut with Eagles

Hope he gets another chance to win people over.

Former Notre Dame quarterback [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag] has one NFL regular-season game to his name with the New Orleans Saints in 2021. The Saints cut Book last season but immediately was claimed by the Philadelphia Eagles. However, he did not see the field with them. He hopes that will change in 2023, but he’s got a long way to go to win the Eagles’ fan base over after his preseason debut against the Baltimore Ravens.

The most notable moment of Book’s night was when the Ravens’ Daryl Worley sacked him for a 21-yard loss. His passing wasn’t any better as he completed only one of four attempts for 11 yards. Even though he only played in the fourth quarter, it was more than Eagles fans needed to see to judge his performance.

Social media was ripe with criticism for Book in a way only Eagles fans could dish out. Hopefully, he can use this as motivation assuming he gets another chance: