Category: Notre Dame NFL Draft

Okwara projected into NFL Draft’s First Round

Notre Dame’s DE Julian Okwara has been projected as a first round pick in the NFL Draft.

Now that the college football season is officially over with the conclusion of the Senior Bowl, multiple outlets will be posting their mock drafts and that’s exactly what SB Nations Dan Kadar did yesterday. Kader had only one former Golden Domer in his mock, DE Julian Okwara being selected 27th overall by the Seattle Seahawks.

Kader, however, wasn’t sure if Seattle would even be in that spot to select Okwara: “Chances are the Seahawks won’t be picking here on draft weekend considering general manager John Schneider’s usual transactional gymnastics. If the Seahawks happen to stay at No. 27, they could target a pass rusher. Okwara should test off the charts with the analytics community, and good coaching will take advantage of his traits.”

Many of these are just best guesses as the current moment, as the NFL’s version of a job hunt, the underwear Olympics, AKA the NFL combine won’t start until February 23rd and concludes on March 2nd. Pro day’s will be after that, then the big day, the NFL Draft on April 23-25, held on water. Yes, you read that right, it’s going to be on water this year, with the possibility that Okwara could be ferried out to the stage in the Fountain of Bellagio.

Notre Dame Football: Alohi Gilman Declares for NFL Draft

He has a nose for the football and made a habit making huge plays which was on display Saturday as Brian Kelly gave him the game ball for his performance in the Camping World Bowl victory over Iowa State.

It wasn’t much of a surprise if you’ve been paying attention but on Monday night Notre Dame safety and captain Alohi Gilman announced he’ll be passing on his fifth year of eligibility and putting his name in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Gilman played the last two seasons at Notre Dame after spending his freshman year at the Naval Academy where he was credited with 76 tackles (50 solo) and a forced fumble.

After sitting out the 2017 season due to a transfer ruling it didn’t take long for Gilman to make an impact on the field in 2018.

When I think of Gilman I think of a player that teammates clearly love and feed off of but someone who has a knack for making a huge play in the most-necessary of moments.

He has a nose for the football and made a habit making huge plays which was on display Saturday as Brian Kelly gave him the game ball for his performance in the Camping World Bowl victory over Iowa State.

With Isaiah Pryor coming in next season and Houston Griffith already being on campus it’s easy to see why Gilman is deciding to take his NFL chance now instead of playing with Kyle Hamilton another year.

From the way-back machine – Alohi Gilman takes down Josh Adams back in 2016:

FWIW – WalterFootball.com ranks Gilman as the 19th best safety in the 2020 NFL Draft.

2 Notre Dame players selected in Draft Wire’s 2020 NFL mock draft

Notre Dame stars Tommy Kraemer and Julian Okwara were both mocked within the first three rounds of Draft Wire’s latest 2020 NFL mock draft.

USA TODAY’s Draft Wire put together a three-round mock draft during Week 15 of the NFL season, and two Notre Dame players were projected to get selected.

First up was right guard Tommy Kraemer, who was mocked in the late second round (no. 63 overall) to the Baltimore Ravens.

Kraemer sprained his MCL and has not played in the final five games of the 2019 season. As of now, it is unclear if he will play in the Camping World Bowl. It’s also unclear if he will even declare for the NFL Draft, or if he will stay for a fifth season in South Bend.

If he does decide to go the professional route, landing in Baltimore with a chance to protect future MVP Lamar Jackson would certainly be desirable.

Next up is Julian Okwara, another injured Irish player who has played his final game of the season after suffering a broken fibula.

Okwara has seen his name pop up in the first round of a lot of draft boards, but this one has him all the way down in the third round, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs at no. 90 overall.

Okwara has all the potential in the world to be an elite pass rusher off the edge, and how he recovers from this injury will have a lot to do with his draft stock, and potential future earnings, in the NFL.

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Notre Dame Football: We’ve Got a Forum!

We have launched a forum for exactly that and it costs you nothing to be a contributing part of the message board.

Hey you.

Yeah, you.

Have you been looking for somewhere other than Facebook or Twitter to share your thoughts about your favorite college sports team?

Good news.

We have launched a forum for exactly that and it costs you nothing to be a contributing part of the message board.

Mad about last night’s game?

Have a best guess on who the bowl opponent will be?

Or do you need to vent because your favorite player isn’t getting the respect they deserve nationally?

Now you’ve got a community to share all of your thoughts on all things Notre Dame athletics.

Simply go to our Fighting Irish Forum, create an entirely free account and start posting your thoughts immediately.  It’s as easy as that!

We hope to see you and your thoughts over there soon.

Thanks and Go Irish!

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.