Category: Notre Dame NFL Draft

CBS Sports updates NFL mock draft, Notre Dame sees no first rounders

Wait, what?

The majority of NFL mock drafts that many of have seen heading into the meat of the virtual combine has seen at least one Notre Dame football member, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, being selected in the first round. As CBS Sports Ryan Wilson has expanded his mock draft to three rounds, no Irish players are projected in his first round.

This is a bit shocking, as the majority of draft analysts have JOK going somewhere in the drafts opening salvo. How the most recent Butkus Award winner and consensus All-American could drop out of the first-round is beyond comprehension.

Wilson has the linebacker being selected early in the second round, pick 35, to the Atlanta Falcons. In my estimation, there is no way that JOK falls that far in the draft.

Offensive tackle Liam Eichenberg is the next projected former Irish player to go off the board, reuniting with teammate Cole Kmet in Chicago with the Bears. At pick 52 in the second-round, this is a bit low, but much more reasonable projection as to where Eichenberg will get selected.

The final Notre Dame player Wilson has mocked is Tommy Tremble. The tight end is projected to land in the third round to the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 88th overall pick.

Both Eichenberg and Tremble’s slots are legit, but having JOK fall out of the first-round is downright criminal.

Owusu-Koramoah slipping? Latest USA TODAY mock draft

Davis had Owusu-Koramoah going 30th overall to the Buffalo Bills, barely sneaking into the first round.

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Is Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s NFL draft stock slipping?

Or is it simply one NFL draft expert seeing things differently than others?

USA TODAY’s Nate Davis released his latest mock draft this week, and it had Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah going significantly later than we’ve seen several others have the star Notre Dame linebacker being taken.

Davis had Owusu-Koramoah going 30th overall to the Buffalo Bills, barely sneaking into the first round.

Here is what Davis had to say about Owusu-Koramoah:

30. Buffalo Bills – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, Notre Dame:
The Butkus Award winner as the country’s top college linebacker and ACC defensive player of the year in 2020, he’s a rangy type who could fill a number of roles as an every-down hybrid for this defense. Owusu-Koramoah will probably have to bulk up his 220-pound build, but he could be a great fit for a team that may not bring LB Matt Milano back.

Owusu-Koramoah lacking the perfect size of an outside linebacker certainly doesn’t help his case in the eyes of scouts, something Davis alludes to here.

If he were to fall to 30th overall though, I’d imagine it being a case of a draft being done by a spreadsheet formula instead of watching a player’s actual skill, and that the Buffalo Bills would get a steal that late in the first round.

Related:

Notre Dame’s Daelin Hayes turning heads at Senior Bowl

Mel Kiper, Jr. projects Owusu-Koramoah to AFC East team

PFF ranks two Notre Dame players in top 100 for 2021 NFL Draft

Watch: Notre Dame’s Hayes is turning heads at Senior Bowl practices

Former Notre Dame defensive end Daelin Hayes has been making a very good impression to NFL teams.

With the Senior Bowl practices underway, plenty of information is flying out of Mobile, Alabama. If you didn’t see Ian Book making very good throw to an ACC counterpart, check it out here. What about Notre Dame defenders you ask, well Daelin Hayes has been putting on a show and is impressing NFL brass.

Regardless of rust for his opponent, Hayes still needed to complete the rep and it seems like he did. Dane Brugler went on to note that Hayes is really taking this opportunity to make an impression as he “notice(d) that every time Hayes came off the field, he went directly over to one of the assistant coaches to discuss various techniques and get feedback. That is a player who understands the opportunity in front of him this week.”

Want a bit more proof of Hayes being a monster during practice? Here it is:

This is great news for the former Notre Dame defensive lineman. Aside from when the Irish will host a pro-day, this may be the only time they’ll get a chance to impress NFL teams. Hayes looks like he has been doing plenty to  entice a team to make him as their selection.

Pro Football Focus ranks two Notre Dame draft eligible players in their top 100

Although it’s very early, Pro Football Focus has ranked two Notre Dame stars inside their top 100 draft prospects.

For many players, the NFL Draft signifies years of hard work and a chance to finally reach many of their dream to play at the highest level. This years, draft will be much different, a virtual combine but the date stays the same, April 29th begins three days of selections for NFL teams.

There is plenty of jostling of players ranking from now until the end of April, but right now Pro Football Focus has two Notre Dame players ranked inside their top 100 draft-eligible prospects.

It should come to no one’s surprise who the top former Irish star is, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

The Butkus Award winner is ranked as the 19th best player and said he “has elite short-area quicks for a linebacker, and while 215 pounds may seem tiny, it’s the same weight that Darius Leonard played at this season for the Colts.”

Liam Eichenberg checked in at 49th but PFF didn’t see as much upside as they did with JOK. Michael Renner was impressed with Eichenberg being “technically sound at the position,” but “not wow with his perceived ‘upside.”

Either way, both of these former Irish stars should be hearing their names being called early in the NFL Draft.

Does a certain stat validate Notre Dame’s status as O-Line U?

A stat brought to light by Pro Football Focus shows why Notre Dame should be at the top of the O-Line U rankings.

Plenty of schools argue back and forth which team has sent the best talent from their universities off to the NFL. There was an interesting stat that Pro Football Focus brought to light recently that should give Notre Dame fans plenty of ammo to fight off those other schools as to who produces the best offensive line talent into the NFL.

The number of snaps played is a great indicator of talent, especially along the O-Line where there aren’t many stats to back-up performance. Multiple former Notre Dame linemen stars including Quenton Nelson, Sam Mustipher, Mike McGlinchey and Zach Martin are huge forces for their NFL teams.

Not only that, we should see each of the four NFL Draft eligible (Liam Eichenberg, Robert Hainsey, Tommy Kraemer and Aaron Banks) ultimately hear their names being called in late April.

Jarrett Patterson will also hear his name getting called when he leaves South Bend and surely some of the younger players like Tosh Baker, Blake Fisher, Rocco Spindler and Zeke Correll should make it to the next level as well.

It’s safe to say that for the time being, Notre Dame holds the mantle of O-Line U.

Notre Dame’s Senior Bowl Participants

Notre Dame has six former players participating in this Senior Bowl which is more than any other school.

The annual Reese’s Senior Bowl gets underway this week in Mobile, Alabama before the game takes place on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Some of the best talent from all of college football will be on display this week as players from all over and programs big and small try to improve their draft stock.

Notre Dame has six former players participating which is more than any other school.

Will all six get drafted?

Unlikely but here s a very brief profile on each former Fighting Irish player participating in Senior Bowl activities this week:

Former Notre Dame star Kmet getting rave reviews early with Chicago Bears

It looks like Cole Kmet will continue the Irish’s tradition of producing elite tight ends into the league.

I think we all knew this was coming when Cole Kmet decided to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft, that he was a star in the making. Well, in just a few short practices with his hometown Chicago Bears, Kmet is already turning heads.

While Kmet really only stood out in his final year, the talent was never questioned. With his focus solely on football, Kmet should continue to improve and show why he was so highly regarded during his tenure at South Bend. The Bears won’t have to lean much on Kmet this year, as they also signed veteran tight end Jimmy Graham. Kmet will learn a lot from the former two-sport athlete and 5-time Pro Bowler.

Look for Kmet’s NFL career to be very similar to his time at Notre Dame, not much production early on, but then an explosion that has a great upward trajectory. It should be a lot of fun watching Kmet continue to improve with the Bears and make Notre Dame proud, continuing the tradition at Tight-End U.

ESPN’s McShay projects one Notre Dame star selected in 1st Round

There was one rising Irish star that is projected by ESPN’s Todd McShay to be selected early in next year’s NFL Draft.

We know that there is considerable hype for Irish defender Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah coming into the 2020 season. You can add ESPN’s Todd McShay as a fan of JOK’s work last year and what his future could be at the next level.

McShay mocked JOK to the Atlanta Falcons with the 13th overall pick (insider article) and if McShay is correct, Owusu-Koramoah would be the highest Irish defender drafted since Bryant Young was selected 7th overall all the way back in 1994. McShay believes that the Falcon’s need more linebacker depth and JOK would help them immensely.

The review of Owusu-Koramoah is very favorable as he “is instinctive and fast, with strong recognition skills. He’s all over the field and has the chance to be an every-down impact player,” said McShay. This is all on the heels of JOK’s breakout junior campaign where he tied for the team lead in tackles and had 5.5 sacks. As long as JOK continues his upward trajectory, he should be selected very early in next year’s NFL Draft.

Sporting News ranks best programs of the decade, Notre Dame ranked highly

Bill Bender of the Sporting News came up with a formula to determine the best schools from the last decade and Notre Dame finished high.

The end of the decade has brought many people to retrospectively look at what has happened in the last 10 seasons.

Bill Bender of Sporting News came up with a system to determine the best schools, giving 10 points for a national title, 5 points for each title game appearance and college football playoff selection, 3 points for a New Year’s Six or BCS bowl appearance and 2 points for each Heisman winner. Winning percentage, All-Americans and NFL draft picks were also part of the equation.

With that scoring system, the Irish amassed 27 points, which put them 12th. Bender breaks down the last 10 years of Irish football, noting that “Brian Kelly led the Irish to a BCS championship appearance and a College Football Playoff appearance as part of undefeated regular seasons, but the reality checks Alabama and Clemson provided show what it takes to reach those national championship heights. The Irish are 33-6 the past three seasons and have produced the 11th-most NFL draft picks.”

Looking at the top five schools, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and LSU, only the Sooners have not won a championship in that time frame. The Nick Saban-led Crimson Tide dominated the decade, resulting in 166 points, over 40 more than second-place Clemson. Not too hard when you played for a championship 6 out of the 10 years.

Only 7 points separated the Irish and Auburn, which was 10th, while 8.5 points away was Wisconsin at 8th. The Irish are not that far away from being viewed as one of the best teams of the decade, and, hopefully, this decade is a bit more fruitful than last 10 years.

Notre Dame is Not named Tight End U?!?

A point system to establish Tight End U by 247Sports doesn’t have the Irish on top. Find out who was and where they placed Notre Dame.

Many of us have automatically assumed that every list that ranks collegiate tight ends always seems to have Notre Dame next to the number 1. Well, that wasn’t the case when 247Sports looked into the matter, in fact they named Iowa as Tight End U.

This is all based on what have you done for me lately, as Barton Simmons explains the timeframe is just for the last 5 years. A point system that awards a first round pick 7 points, a second rounder worth 6 and so on, saw the Irish finish with 11 points, good for a tie for 5th on their list.

With “just” 3 draftees in the last five years: Durham Smythe in the fourth round in 2018, Alize Mack in the seventh round last year, and Cole Kmet in the first round this past draft got the Irish to their somewhat disappointing ranking. The quantity is good however, as the Irish only trail Stanford with their four drafted players in the time span.

Simmons looks at this current unit and sees “some good tight ends left on the roster in Brock Wright and Tommy Tremble but true freshman Michael Mayer is the next guy that could sniff a first-round level career.” Although they weren’t named the best group in the last five years, the future looks bright when you also add in 2021 commit Cane Berrong to the lineage.

There is much debate when it comes to assembling these kinds of lists, arguments are surely to arise when trying to rank positional groups. The great news for the Irish is that these numbers should only improve within the next five years as the current and future group should continue the great tradition in South Bend.