Welcome to NFL Draft week as on Thursday night we’ll get all the locations for the first 32 picks in 2020. Will Notre Dame see one of their former players called? Many thought Cole Kmet had the potential to but that thought seems to have simmered.
One outlet who has been a big fan of Julian Okwara from the get-go continues to be as they released their final mock draft on Monday.
Pro Football Focus has been a bigger fan of Notre Dame edge rusher Julian Okwara more-so than anywhere else. They’ve regularly had him being selected in their first round for literally months now and the latest edition is no different as they have Okwara going 27th overall to the Seattle Seahawks, courtesy of Steve Palazzolo.
Okwara has a fantastic combination of burst, length and power, and the Seahawks might like Mike Renner’s Chris Clemons comp from the PFF draft guide. Okwara has the movement skills to dabble at linebacker in the right scheme, but he’s likely a pure edge rusher for Seattle. He finished with an outstanding 90.4 pass-rush grade last season, though he’s got work to do against the run where he graded at just 64.0.
This is actually a pick higher than they’ve had Okwara going in recent mocks as they had previously had him linked to the Ravens for quite some time. Either way, Okwara and Notre Dame fans will be thrilled if he gets his name called Thursday night because aside from Pro Football Focus, nobody else lately seems to believe any former Domers have a shot at having their names called in round one.