Tag: Austin Gayle

Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly talks with PFF about Jack Coan, Marcus Freeman and more

BK drops some interesting info in this podcast

The season is upon us, with week 1 actually starting, a full slate of games and the excitement of the season starting is in the air. Today, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly jumped on the Pro Football Focus College podcast ‘Tailgate’ and discussed a variety of topics.

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He told hosts Mike Renner and Austin Gayle why he believes Jack Coan is not a concern for the Irish heading into week 1 against Florida State, his relationship with new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and why he chose him and much more.

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Take a listen below as the excitement for the 2021 Notre Dame football season continues to build.

Pro Football Focus Mock Draft Puts One Notre Dame Player in Top 20

What is important to remember is how PFF chooses to do their mock drafts as its who the experts would pick there, not who they think teams are going to take.  So I guess “mock” is used even more liberally here.

Will a Notre Dame player go in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft?  Time will tell but if someone does it appears the best bets are either tight end Cole Kmet or edge rusher Julian Okwara.

Pro Football Focus released their latest mock draft on Monday and in it was a Notre Dame player not just in the first round, but in the top 20.

Austin Gayle of PFF had Julian Okwara going to the Las Vegas Raiders at 19 overall with the folllowing reasoning:

There’s currently not enough hype surrounding Okwara. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Notre Dame product is a freakish athlete with absurd bend and flexibility that defensive line coaches salivate over at the next level. His technique will require improvement at the next level, but he still earned a 90.4 PFF pass-rushing grade before his 2019 season was cut short due to injury. His pass-rushing grade improved every year of his career with the Fighting Irish.

What is important to remember is how PFF chooses to do their mock drafts as its who the experts would pick there, not who they think teams are going to take.  So I guess “mock” is used even more liberally here.

What is worth noting however is how sure they seem about Okwara even with him breaking his fibula against Duke and not playing in Notre Dame’s final four games of the 2019 season.