Category: Irish in NFL

Irish in the NFL: Quenton Nelson named to ESPN’s 25 under 25

Former Notre Dame Irish guard Quenton Nelson was named to ESPN’s all 25-under-25 team.

Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Quenton Nelson was the only offensive lineman named to ESPN writer Mike Clay’s 25 under 25 team – a list of the 25 best players in the league who are age 25 or younger.

Nelson has had an incredible start to his NFL career as the starting left guard for the Indianapolis Colts, where he was drafted sixth overall in the 2018 draft.

Nelson immediately took over as a starter for the Colts, and has played all but one offensive snap in the last two years.

He was a Pro Bowler and a first team All-Pro in his rookie season, but amazingly he’s playing even better in year two.

Here’s an excerpt from Clay’s article, where Nelson came in at No. 5.

The lone offensive lineman on our list, Nelson has been the driving force for the emergence of the Colts’ line as one of the league’s best units. The Notre Dame product has been on the field for all but one of Indianapolis’ offensive snaps since he was selected with the sixth pick of the 2018 draft. His 94.1% pass block win rate ranked 11th among guards during his rookie season and sits at 93.7% (11th best) this season.

Nelson was named to the Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro during an outstanding rookie season, and he’s on track for significantly more award recognition over the next decade.

Nelson starred at Notre Dame from 2014-2017, and was named an All-American in his final season with the Irish. He has a chance to be one of the best offensive linemen in the league, and perhaps of all-time, if he keeps this pace up.

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Watch: Julian Love’s First NFL Pick, Golden Tate’s Touchdown

It was Love’s first career NFL interception and happened to take place in his hometown of Chicago as Love grew up just outside Chicago.

It’s been on a long few seasons for the New York Giants, entering Sunday just 2-8 on the year and with a defense that has struggled to slow almost anything down.

Well, things didn’t go a whole lot better for the Giants this Sunday as they fell to the Bears 19-14. Despite the score a couple of former Notre Dame stars made some big-time plays for Big Blue.

Trailing 19-7 at the start of the third quarter the Giants forced a third and ten when Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky tried to throw deep, only to connect with former Notre Dame Thorpe Award finalist Julian Love.

It was Love’s first career NFL interception and happened to take place in his hometown of Chicago as Love grew up just outside Chicago.

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Love’s interception probably meant a little more to him this week as two of his childhood friends he was planning on seeing while in Chicago died in an automobile accident earlier this week.

Still trailing 19-7 later in the fourth quarter it was former Biletnikoff Award Winner and Notre Dame product Golden Tate making another outstanding grab to cut the lead to 19-13.

The touchdown was Tate’s fourth of the season.

Despite the help from a couple of Domers, the Giants ultimately dropped the game 19-14 in Chicago while falling to just 2-9 on the year.

Irish in the NFL: Will Fuller excels in return for Texans

Former Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller excelled in his return from a lengthy absence with the Houston Texans, hauling in seven catches.

Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish receiver Will Fuller returned to the field for the Houston Texans after missing about a month with a hamstring injury, and the speedy deep threat picked up right where he left off.

Fuller hauled in seven receptions (on 11 targets) for 140 yards, including a 51-yard gain, helping lead the Texans to a narrow 20-17 victory over the Colts on Thursday Night Football.

The 51-yard gain travelled 59.4 yards in the air, the third-longest throw by air yards of the NFL season, according to Next Gen Stats

Fuller now has 41 receptions for 590 yards and three touchdowns through eight games this season, and has proven himself a crucial piece of Houston’s offense.

In fact, quarterback Deshaun Watson is much more dangerous with Fuller in the mix. He averages 62.5 more passing yards per game and 1.1 more passing touchdowns per game when Fuller is healthy and on the field.

Fuller was a beast at Notre Dame, hauling in 144 receptions for 2,512 yards and 30 touchdowns in three seasons before Houston made him a first round pick in 2016.

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Irish in the NFL: Rudolph Puts Vikings in Front

Make that five times now in his last five games.

Last week we discussed how Kyle Rudolph had turned a corner after he pulled down a pair of one-yard touchdowns in Minnesota’s victory Sunday night at Dallas.

Despite a slow start that saw him fail to get in the end zone through six games, Rudolph managed to find pay-dirt four times in the four games since.

Well.

Make that five times in his last five games.

The Vikings got off to an incredibly slow start Sunday against the underdog Broncos, falling behind 20-0 on their home field by halftime.

The Vikings came marching back in the second half before Rudolph put them in front for the first time all day.

Tight End U at it again as the Vikings held on to win, 27-23.

Watch: Quenton Nelson’s EPIC Keg-Stand Touchdown Celebration

former Notre Dame stud offensive guard Quenton Nelson and the rest of the offensive line performed one of the best group touchdown celebrations to date

The Indianapolis Colts are in a dogfight for a playoff spot, battling with the Houston Texans for the AFC South lead.

In an important divisional game for the Colts on Sunday, they started slow but began to pull away from the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second half.

After the Colts scored to go up 16-7 in the third quarter, former Notre Dame stud offensive guard Quenton Nelson and the rest of the offensive line performed one of the best group touchdown celebrations to date.

Keg stands for the win.

Please never change, Q.

Irish in the NFL: Will Fuller nearing return for Texans

The Houston Texans will soon get back former Notre Dame receiver Will Fuller, who has been out since suffering a hamstring injury in Week 7.

Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish receiver Will Fuller V has been out with a hamstring injury since getting hurt in Week 7, but the speedy receiver is nearing a return for the Houston Texans.

After a bye week last week, Houston reported that Fuller is a limited participant in practice on both Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of the team’s Week 11 matchup with the Ravens.

Fuller is Houston’s primary deep threat, recording 34 receptions for 450 yards and three touchdowns on the season. Drops have continued to plague the speedy receiver, but his rapport with Deshaun Watson will be a welcome boost for this Houston offense.

Fuller is in his fourth NFL season, all spent with Houston after they plucked him in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft.

Fuller was a monster in college, recording back-to-back 1,000 yard receiving seasons as a sophomore and junior, and totaling 30 career touchdowns.

Although he has yet to find that level of success in the NFL, he is liable to break out in any given week, and will help the Texans the rest of the way as soon as he is healthy.

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Another Pair of Notre Dame Stars Headed to Senior Bowl

Pride has 33 tackles on the year along with one interception, as he recorded his first last-Saturday at Duke.

It seems like just about every hour at this point another Notre Dame player accepts an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl

We’ve given you the stories on both Chase Claypool and Jalen Elliott but that’s not enough as a couple of other Notre Dame seniors accepted their invitations to the annual Mobile, Alabama event today.

Enter Troy Pride, Jr. and Khalid Kareem.

Pride has 33 tackles on the year along with one interception, as he recorded his first last-Saturday at Duke.

Kareem has four-and-a-half sacks on the season and 11 for his Notre Dame career.  The defensive lineman has totaled 31 tackles this season.

That brings the total to four for Notre Dame players headed to Mobile, a sign of a strong program.

Notre Dame Captain Headed to Senior Bowl

The Reese’s Senior Bowl announced Tuesday night that senior-captain, safety Jalen Elliott will participate in the 2020 Senior Bowl at the conclusion of this college football season. We are proud to announce @NDFootball DB Jalen Elliott ( @Jae_Uno_) …

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The Reese’s Senior Bowl announced Tuesday night that senior-captain, safety Jalen Elliott will participate in the 2020 Senior Bowl at the conclusion of this college football season.

Elliott has started all nine games this season and recorded 35 tackles along the way while also picking off a pass against New Mexico and Bowling Green, both.  He also intercepted four passes during Notre Dame’s 12-0 regular season in 2018.

The Lloyd C. Bird High School (Virginia) product was recruited as a three-star safety in the 2016 class and has appeared in all 47 Notre Dame games since stepping foot on campus for the first time as a student-athlete back in 2016.

He will undoubtedly be missed next year, although Kyle Hamilton’s start and Isaiah Pryor’s recent commitment makes you feel pretty good about where the safety position will be headed into 2020.

Irish in the NFL: Tyler Eifert records first TD catch since Week 2

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert, a former Notre Dame Fighting Irish, hauled in his second touchdown of the season on Sunday.

Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Tyler Eifert recorded his second touchdown of the season on Sunday – and his first since Week 2 – in Cincinnati’s 49-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

It was the first career touchdown pass for Bengals rookie quarterback Ryan Finley, a fourth round pick out of North Carolina State in 2019.

It’s been an ugly season for the Bengals, who replaced veteran Andy Dalton with Finley officially on Sunday.

Finley was able to connect on a six-yard touchdown pass with Eifert, a long-time reliable target for Dalton, giving Finley the first of what Cincinnati hopes will be many touchdowns for the young gunslinger.

The Bengals are barreling toward an early pick in 2020 however, making Finley’s time as a starter potentially short-lived.

Regardless, expect Eifert – who had 140 receptions and 11 touchdowns while at Notre Dame – to be a go-to target for Finley while he gets his NFL legs under him.

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Irish in the NFL: Rudolph’s Huge Night Elevates Vikings

Rudolph finished with four receptions for just 14 yards total but that number looks a lot more important when two of them were for scores, giving him 45 career touchdowns in his now nine-year NFL career.

Tight End U was at it again Sunday, with a Notre Dame product doing damage at the position and again helping his team to victory.

Kyle Rudolph found the end zone for the Minnesota Vikings not once but twice on Sunday Night Football at Dallas.

Rudolph was twice on the receiving end of one-yard Kirk Cousins touchdown passes in the first quarter, helping to get the Vikings to an early 14-0 lead. His first reception was as good of catch as you’ll see a tight end make.

Rudolph finished with four receptions for just 14 yards total but that number looks a lot more important when two of them were for scores, giving him 45 career touchdowns in his now nine-year NFL career.

The Vikings held off a Cowboys comeback to move to 7-3 on the season, plenty alive in the NFC playoff chase. Rudolph now has four touchdowns over the last three games after being kept out of the end zone the first six weeks of the season.