Tag: Audric Estime

4 RB prospects for the Browns to target in the 2024 NFL Draft

The Browns should look to draft more talent at the running back position

The Cleveland Browns have an obvious need at running back, and Bucky Irving or Audric Estime could fit the bill in the 2024 NFL draft.

Though it had its moments, the running back position was subpar in Cleveland after Nick Chubb suffered a season-ending knee injury. The Browns stuck with Jerome Ford as their lead back, and he showed flashes but not enough to think he is the long-term back for the Browns.

Though it isn’t as good of a running back class as last year, there are still plenty of options in this year’s draft. With no true superstars at the top, the Browns could find themselves on the board in the second round with no running backs gone before their first pick.

General manager Andrew Berry will likely find a way to re-work Chubb’s contract to bring him back, but the Browns must think about getting a long-term option at the position, and drafting one early would do just that.

Here are four running back options Cleveland should consider when April’s draft arrives.

Notre Dame football: Audric Estime photo gallery

Big Dric!

It’s been a very long time since Notre Dame was looked at as perhaps having the best running back in college football.  That was the case in 2023 however with Audric Estime.

Estime made numerous different All-American teams in 2023 after rushing for 1,341 yards and averaging 6.4 yards per carry in what wound up being his final season in South Bend.

Estime also rushed for 18 touchdowns on the year, the most ever in a single season by a Notre Dame running back – and he did so despite sitting out of the Sun Bowl.

Before he gets drafted this coming April, take a look back at one of the most impressive rushers in the history of Notre Dame football below:

2024 Mock Draft Round-Up: Where Notre Dame players are projected to go in April

How many Notre Dame players will get drafted this spring?

Four more NFL teams see their seasons come to an end this weekend; four others will remain alive for a chance to win Super Bowl 58.

As more and more teams enter the offseason, more and more heads to turn to those offseason and NFL draft plans.

Notre Dame has what certainly seems like a top-10 pick: offensive tackle Joe Alt. Just how high will Alt go? Could he crack the top-five?

And what about the other former Golden Domers? Audric Estime and Blake Fisher expect to hear their names called. but what about some others?

We took a look at a handful of mock drafts to see where they project the former Fighting Irish stars to get drafted.  Here is what our first look at the NFL mock draft roundup found:

Notre Dame Football: Best Offensive Players of 2023 Ranked 1-15

Which grades surprise you the most?

Notre Dame’s offense in 2023 goes down as one of the most successful in program history by a numbers standpoint.  By a viewers standpoint they were also towards the top of the list of being the most frustrating we’ve ever seen.

Great against poor competition while seemingly unprepared for the likes of Ohio State, Louisville, and Clemson.

So from a completely emotion-less perspective, who had the best seasons on Notre Dame’s offense?  And who left a decent amount to be desired?

Pro Football Focus has their grades for Notre Dame’s entire roster for 2023.  We went through and found the 15 offensive players they ranked the highest for their performances in 2023.  See who made the top 15 below.

Players included in this top 15 had to have played a minimum of 100 snaps on offense in 2023.

Notre Dame Football: Estime Top Pro Football Focus Running Back Rankings for 2023

A truly GREAT year for #7!

Now that the 2023 season has completely come to an end its a good time to look back at the year that was.

For Notre Dame, that meant a return to having a truly elite college running back.

Yes, Notre Dame has had some really good backs in recent years but it’s difficult to put any in quite some time in the same level of [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] in 2023.  Estime was the lead-back for the Irish and ran for over 1,300 yards, a number that could have threatened 1,500 if he were to have gotten 2-3 more carries a game.

Just how good was Estime in 2023?  Pro Football Focus released their top-10 graded running backs across college football for the year and you can see for yourself just how well he stacked up.

Pro Football Focus highlights how dominant Notre Dame RB Audric Estime was

It was an impressive season for Estime

This past seasons Notre Dame running back [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] ran for 1,341 yards with 18 touchdowns.

It’s the type of season where the junior back dominated the competition in every game. Career highs all across the board should have gotten Estime in invitation as a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, but he was snubbed.

However Pro Football Focus released its running back grades and Estime topped the charts. According to their metrics, he was the best in the nation, something many Irish fans believed as the season went on. Even if he didn’t get nation recognition for his efforts, PFF knew how great he was.

The huge season pushed Estime to leave to the NFL, where he should get selected fairly high and have a productive career at the highest level.

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NCAA Football Video Game Returns: Notre Dame Players We Missed Out On

Which Notre Dame player would have been the best to play with?

College football has its own cult-like following that makes it truly unique compared to any other American sport.  Even in that group there are sub-groups that are even that much more passionate.

One of those groups includes anyone who was ever a fan of the NCAA Football video game by EA Sports.

Personally, I can’t begin to estimate the total hours spent as a high school student in my parents house playing that game, the amount of hours I invested in it during college, or the hours I spent in my early-20’s with it.

However, it went away after the NCAA Football ’13 edition, meaning we’ve gone a full decade (2014-2023 seasons) now without the game.

So which players in that time did we especially miss playing with if we would have been playing as Notre Dame?

Here are the 11 we missed out in video game form the most.

Tale of the Tape: Notre Dame offense vs. Oregon State defense

Think these rankings are misleading?

Notre Dame’s offense will enter the Sun Bowl looking nothing like it did during the regular season. The most prominent offensive players from the regular have opted out, so it seems almost unfair that we’re even having this listicle for this game. Even taking those key names out though, there still were some key players who contributed during the season that helped make these numbers what they are. Therefore, it make sense to bring the listicle back.

Oregon State enters having played a season with a pretty good defense, especially against the run. With [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] out, that could make life easy for the Beavers unless the Irish’s running back depth goes off. Plus, this defense can go into the game knowing this program has stopped the Irish twice in bowl games before, and it’s likely they expect not to break tradition.

Here’s a look at how the Irish’s offense matches up with the Beavers’ defense:

Who is missing from Notre Dame in Sun Bowl via opt-out?

These names could be in the Sun Bowl, but they won’t be.

It’s become increasingly common for college football players to opt out of inconsequential bowl games for one reason or another. With the College Football Playoff field tripling in size next year, that could solve the problem a bit, at least as far as the number of team this practice impacts. This is the future of college football, even if you don’t agree with it.

With Notre Dame facing Oregon State in the Sun Bowl, several Irish players are missing, either having entered the transfer portal or choosing to focus on preparing for the NFL draft. That means many of the Irish’s leaders in each major statistical category will be absent, so it’s not worth listing a bunch of names that won’t play.

Instead, we’re going to list the percentage of each major statistic that will be missing from the Irish during the final game of the season because of opt-outs. Hopefully, this won’t discourage you from watching the game too much:

Watch: Audric Estime’s farewell video to Notre Dame

What’s your favorite Audric Estime memory at Notre Dame?

There are plenty of talented players that run through the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium and get cheered for their few years on campus. Then they either go on to the NFL or to their non-football careers. While not forgotten, their memory fades over the years.

For any Notre Dame fan during the last two seasons, it is going to be hard to imagine the Audric Estime in blue and gold memories fading anytime soon.

Estime announced he was forgoing the Sun Bowl and his senior season and will enter the NFL draft.  The star running back figures to be one of the first at his position selected in April.

Estime posted a video to social media highlighting his time and memories at Notre Dame and the two-minute clip is certainly worth your time. Check it out below and thanks for the memories, No. 7.