Bucky Brooks has made a name for himself as one of the better football analysts around, especially in terms of the annual NFL draft.
Brooks recently released his top-five rankings for each position group for the 2021 NFL draft and perhaps surprisingly, the College Football Playoff qualifying Notre Dame Fighting Irish saw just one player listed by Brooks.
That player was linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who Brooks ranked as the second-best linebacker behind only Micha Parsons from Penn State.
It’s not that I think he’s terribly far off on this but I do have questions as to how guard Aaron Banks was passed over on this list.
To me, Banks has been seemingly undervalued in almost all draft evaluations. Some think he can move to tackle in the league while he still projects on the inside.
Banks is the one I would go to bat for and argue is worthy of a mention not just in the top-five but very near the top.
The other takeaway is both good and bad for Notre Dame:
The good – Brian Kelly and company were able to coach a team to a CFP appearance while having only one truly elite talent in terms of draft eligibility according to these rankings.
The bad – the gap in overall depth of true star talent is obvious when you look at Notre Dame compared to Alabama, LSU, and Ohio State. As we’ve discussed many times there is a difference between being really good like the Irish have been lately, and being great, something they’re yet to accomplish.
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Owusu-Koramoah stock slipping in latest USA TODAY mock draft