ESPN: Quinn Disappoints as NFL Quarterback

Although Irish QB Brady Quinn had a stellar career in South Bend, that success did not translate over to the highest level.

Irish Nation celebrated the huge recruiting win over Midwest powers Ohio State and Michigan when Brady Quinn announced his commitment to Notre Dame. His career in Blue and Gold was a record setting one, 36 of them, during his four years with the Irish. Quinn would win the Unitas Golden Arm Award and the Maxwell in his senior year, setting up what should have been a fantastic professional career.

Quinn would then be drafted 22nd overall by Cleveland, the second QB taken in a weak class (all-time bust JaMarcus Russell from LSU went 1st overall), would return to his home state and be the Browns savior. Quinn never really got an opportunity to start for the Browns, playing a total of 14 games over 3 seasons, went to Denver and didn’t get his shot there either. Finally, an opportunity in Kansas City in 2012, but a missed one which saw Quinn start 10 games but have a 2 to 8 TD to INT ratio. A few years later, Quinn was out of the league.

ESPN this morning reminisced about collegiate players whose stars shone bright but never made it at the highest level. Two of their writers, Ivan Maisel and Adam Rittenberg, chose Quinn as their player who didn’t translate their collegiate success to the NFL. Maisel didn’t just pick Quinn, but more the 2007 QB draft class with the aforementioned Russell along with the Heisman winner Troy Smith, Kevin Kolb of Houston and others. The “nine quarterbacks, none of whom threw for more than 6.033 yards or 28 touchdowns in their NFL careers,” Maisel explained. Quinn wasn’t the only prospect to underachieve that year.

Rittenberg was more focused on Quinn as opposed to the entire QB class like Maisel. “Quinn looked like the perfect NFL prospect, playing in the perfect system to prepare him for the next level and with the perfect coach in Weis,” Rittenberg remembers. The kicker here is that Rittenberg opines that Quinn’s career might have been completely different had he not been drafted by the miserable Browns. In Quinn’s time in the NFL the Browns combined to start 12 different quarterbacks, who compiled a 37-75 record and became a grave for QB’s. Rittenberg might have a point here, but even when Quinn exited Cleveland, his struggles continued.

Brady Quinn will go down as one of the all-time great quarterbacks in Notre Dame history. It would have been fantastic for him to continue his success in the NFL but that wasn’t in the cards. Regardless, fond memories of Quinn’s time in South Bend will always trump his time in the League.

All-time Notre Dame NFL draft selections: New York Jets edition

Notre Dame’s ties with the New York Jets aren’t exactly extensive…

The New York Jets came into existence in 1960 as the New York Titans of the AFL.  They kept that name for three seasons before switching to the Jets in 1963 and their AFL and Super Bowl championships in 1968 played a huge part in the eventual AFL-NFL merger.

History hasn’t been so kind to the Jets however as they’ve never gotten back to the Super Bowl since Joe Namath’s famed guarantee over the Colts in January of 1969 and they’re a franchise that went just 6-27 from 2020-2021.  Last year saw a turn however as they still finished in last place in their division, but won seven games.  Could a playoff spot be in the picture this year?

It hasn’t happened often but perhaps a Notre Dame player could be on their way to get drafted by the Jets.  It’s something that has happened just four times before.

Here are the four former Notre Dame players to ever be drafted by the New York Jets:

Two Notre Dame stars make Kiper’s early 2023 Big Board for ESPN

Which two stars made the list?

The 2022 NFL draftees have yet to play even a pre-season game for their respective teams but that never stops analysts from looking ahead to the next draft. Recently, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. released his ‘Big Board’ (subscription required) which consists of the top 25 players in this upcoming draft. Find out which two Notre Dame stars made the list and where they landed inside the top 25.

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Former Notre Dame LB Owusu-Koramoah grew up rooting for which team?

Who did you grow up rooting for?

When choosing your favorite teams, there’s usually a lot of factors that go into the decision, who your family roots for, location and any affiliation to the team at all. We’ll it came out today that former Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah got drafted by his favorite NFL team, the Cleveland Browns.

It’s interesting that JOK likes the Browns for their colors, as a guy who’s originally from Virginia, you wouldn’t expect the second-round pick to root for a seemingly random Midwest team.

Luckily, the past four years, Owusu-Koramoah has gotten accustomed to the weather and Midwest lifestyle. The Browns got an absolute steal in the second round, many of us, myself included, thought that JOK was a lock for the first round of the NFL draft.

It now seems like it was a match that was destined to happen, as Owusu-Koramoah now suits up for this favorite colors, I mean, favorite team, the Cleveland Browns.

Pro Football Focus names Notre Dame’s Joseph as a Top-5 safety

The Irish found a good one in the transfer portal

When former Northwestern star safety Brandon Joseph entered the transfer portal the Irish were immediately connected. The similarities between the schools made it a great match, academics, high-level football and of course, the opportunity to play at the next level.

Joseph eventually connected the dots, landed in South Bend and showed during the Blue vs. Gold game why he was previously selected to All-American teams. With Kyle Hamilton leaving to the NFL, the Irish needed to find his replacement and Marcus Freeman hit a home run with the addition of Joseph. Many, including Pro Football Focus, believe that Joseph is a top-5 player at his position, and they recently ranked him as the third best safety prospect in the country.

The only non-SEC player on this list, Joseph has big shoes to fill, but the talent to do so. Although he is most likely just going to play one season for the Irish, it should be an impactful one.

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Watch: Highlights of former Notre Dame S Hamilton’s first day with Baltimore

Hamilton looks good in purple

It was a big day yesterday for many NFL rookies, their first official workouts with their new teams. For former Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton, it was his chance to show the Baltimore Ravens front office exactly why the selected him with their first round pick. Check out below highlights from Hamilton’s first practice and interviews after in his first day as a Raven.

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USA TODAY’s Draft Wire projects three Notre Dame NFL 1st Round ‘23 selections

The first two are obvious, but who is the third???

The ink still isn’t dry from the 2022 NFL Draft but that won’t stop many of us from looking ahead to what is in store for the 2023 selections. The fact that there is still a full season of development makes projections like these a bit difficult but USA TODAY’s Luke Easterling took a crack at projecting what the first-round will look like for the next draft. Find out where Easterling believes the three, yes three, Notre Dame stars end up in the 2023 NFL Draft’s first-round. (The teams are a projection as well)

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Kyle Hamilton’s Defensive Rookie of the Year odds

Worth putting a few bucks down on?

Almost universally the Baltimore Ravens selection of Notre Dame safety [autotag]Kyle Hamilton[/autotag] with the 14th overall pick in this year’s NFL draft drew great reviews.  Hamilton joins what could be among the best secondaries in the league next season and was seen by many as one of the top two or three talents in the draft.

What does it mean for Hamilton’s chances to make an instant impact at football’s highest level?

Thanks to the numbers from Tipico Sportsbook, we know which players are going to be favored in the chase for Defensive Rookie of the Year.  How did Hamilton stack up to the rest?

Hamilton was given the ninth best odds by Tipico at +1000.  Of the eight players with better odds than Hamilton, five were drafted before him last Thursday.

See the entire list of Defensive Rookie of the Year odds by visiting our friends at Ducks Wire!

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Current Notre Dame 2023 commit projected to NFL Draft First-Round

It’s a while away, but high praise regardless

The group of 2023 stars have yet to even enroll into their respective collegiate campuses but that still doesn’t mean you can’t project what they will look like 3-5 years post-high school. Brian Dohn of 247Sports polled some of the analysts they rely on and came up with multiple names that they’d bet to become first-round selections.

There were no repeats allowed on this list and when it came to Cooper Petagna’s turn, he selected Notre Dame defensive end commit Keon Keeley as his future early selection. He notes that Keeley “possesses arguably the highest upside of any defensive prospect in the class outside of Cormani McClain.”

That’s a very high praise for Keeley and the other players who made this list. It’s a massive task to project what any of these players will turn out to be, but for anyone to be selected, it’s a nice honor.

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Notre Dame RB Williams finally hears his name called in NFL Draft

Longer than what we expected

When Irish running back Kyren Williams opted out of his final seasons of college football and entered the NFL Draft, he most likely didn’t believe that he would have to wait until day 3 to hear his name being called. That was the case however, as Williams was finally selected by the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams with the 21st selection of the fifth round.

After seeing multiple other back who didn’t nearly have the same amount of production in college getting selected, the process was most likely humbling for the former Irish star. He does end up in a good situation, as the Rams offense is one of the best in the league.

The expectation for a fifth round pick isn’t too high and if we had to guess, Williams will exceed those. With a chip on his shoulder, it would not be surprising for Williams to carve out a solid role in the Rams offense.

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