April 23 will bring the start of the 2020 NFL Draft, this year being held in Las Vegas as part of the NFL’s celebration of bringing the league to Vegas with the Raiders.
How many Notre Dame players will we see drafted in those three days? Time will tell but recent trends in some of the most-respected draft analysts mock drafts have had fewer and fewer former Fighting Irish going in round one.
Matt Miller from Bleacher Report released his full seven round mock draft this weekend and had eight different Notre Dame players getting selected. Now who were they and where did he have them going?
R1 – 30: Cole Kmet, TE, Green Bay Packers
R2 – 54: Julian Okwara, Edge Rusher, Buffalo Bills
R3 – 75: Khalid Kareem, Edge Rusher, Indianapolis Colts
R3 – 94: Chase Claypool, WR, Green Bay Packers
R4 – 145: Troy Pride, Jr., CB, Baltimore Ravens
R5 – 153: Jalen Elliott, S, Arizona Cardinals
R6 – 196: Alohi Gilman, S, New England Patriots
R7 – 241: Tony Jones, Jr., RB, Miami Dolphins
A few thoughts on this one:
First off, as a Chicago Bears fan I despise the idea of both Kmet and Claypool going to Green Bay. Jimmy Graham is washed up at tight end while aside from Davante Adams, there aren’t many options for Aaron Rodgers to throw to. Kmet and Claypool fix that issue, especially when you factor in the ridiciulous depth of talent at wide receiver in this draft being the only reason Claypool would be a fourth round pick.
Okwara not only not in the first round but really not sniffing the first round. It certainly is starting to seem like it’s going to be Kmet or bust for that first round.
Troy Pride, Jr. as a fourth round pick by the Ravens feels like the kind of Ravens defensive pick that you see, don’t think a ton about initally and then you look up six years later and he’s still a mainstay on that defense.
Alohi Gilman as a reserve safety and special teams player for the Patriots seems like the most Bill Belichick sixth round draft pick ever…well, besides that Brady guy.
Tony Jones, Jr. gets selected in this one. I know the All-Star games don’t carry nearly the weight as the practices before them do but he had a rather weak showing a few weeks back in Tampa and I’ll be pleasantly surprised if his name is called and he’s not an undrafted free agent.